经济学人38:韩式之恋 两个人的专属网络

 　　Business

　　商业
　　Love, Korean-style
　　韩式之恋
　　Two's company
　　两个人的专属网络
　　The world's most exclusive social network
　　世界上最专一的社交网络
　　SOUTH KOREANS take romance seriously. Lovers are expected to swap 1 sweet nothings many times a day and woe 2 betide the clod who forgets a "100-day anniversary". Some pairs dress in "couple style", in the same garish 3 red sweater and blue jeans combo, for instance. Small wonder that a Korean firm has created a social network for couples.
　　韩国人向来注重浪漫。一天之内，恋人总是交换甜言蜜语数遍不厌倦。若是谁忘了"100天纪念日"，那他可就要倒霉了。一些情侣穿着情侣装，诸如艳丽的红色羊毛套衫搭配蓝色牛仔裤。由此，一家韩国公司开创了一个专属于情侣的社交网络，这也没什么好大惊小怪的。
　　VCNC's app is called "Between". It creates a private space for two people, in which they can share photographs and special memories, chat in real time and exchange any number of cute "emoticons": smiley faces, winks 4, hearts and so on. Though revolting to singles, Between is a hit. Since its launch in November, more than 560,000 Koreans have fallen for it. This comes despite VCNC spending virtually nothing on marketing 5. Park Jae-uk, the firm's boss, claims another 200,000 users abroad, divided between China, Japan and North America
　　韩国公司VCNC开发了一款叫"Between"的社交应用。这款社交应用给情侣们提供了两个人的专属空间。情侣们可以分享相片，珍贵的时刻，可以即时聊天，以及交换一些可爱的表情符号（如笑脸，眨眼，爱心等等）。不得不说，"Between"让单身人士感到恶心，但它却引领起一股风潮。自去年十一月推出以来，超过56万的韩国人爱上了它。实际上，VCNC公司并没有在营销上做出太多动作。公司老板朴在旭（Park Jae-uk）宣称Between在海外拥有20万用户，并分布在中国，日本以及北美。
　　Between is part of a trend towards intimacy 6 in social networking. Some Facebook users are fed up with the torrent 7 of "friend" requests from people they barely know. Others resent being tagged in embarrassing photographs their boss can see. Hence the rise of services such as Path, an American network that limits members to 150 friends. Other networks, such as FamilyLeaf and Storytree, target families.
　　如今社交网络趋向私密化，Between也紧跟这种潮流。一些Facebook用户已经对源源不断的"好友申请"感到厌倦。这些好友申请通常来自于他们几乎不认识的人。而一些用户则讨厌被标记在一些尴尬的照片上，因为这些照片连他们的老板也看得到。因此，一些社交网络服务的崛起，诸如Path,就严格限制了好友的封顶数为150人，而其它的一些社交网络，如FamilyLeaf和Storytree的目标受众则是家族成员。
　　VCNC is betting that couples particularly value their privacy. A message on one's Facebook "Wall" from an old flame can incinerate a new relationship. Cutting the ex (and everyone else) out removes the risk. Cynics may ask how a social network for two differs from simply sending text messages back and forth 8. Between's users presumably think the cynics lack romance in their souls.
　　VCNC认定情侣之间特别重视个人隐私。在Facebook上一条旧情人的信息足以破坏一段新恋情。屏蔽掉"前度"或者其他人则可以移除风险。有些愤世嫉俗者可能会问，Between和简单的来回发短信有什么不同。Between的用户可能会认为，这些批判者是骨子里缺乏浪漫基因。
　　Revenue will come from advertising 9. The firm hopes that nice restaurants and sellers of romantic holidays will pay to pitch to loved-up couples. It also plans to offer premium 10 services, such as the printing of photobooks documenting the progress of a relationship.
　　未来，Between的收入将来自于广告。VCNC公司希望一些高品质的餐馆，以及一些以浪漫假期为主打商品的商家可以来它的网站做宣传，VCNC由此收取广告费。VCNC同时计划推出一项付费服务，例如将相片集结成书，以此来记录情侣之间的感情历程。
　　Swingers may be miffed to learn that Between allows only one partner per user. But some cheaters have beaten the system by using multiple identities, laughs Mr Park. He is unlikely to join them. Running VCNC keeps him too busy even for one girlfriend, he laments 11.
　　得知Between只允许每位用户拥有一位伴侣，一些滥交人士可能会有些许恼怒。朴先生笑着说，然而有一些骗子却骗过系统的法眼，使用了多重身份。他自己不可能加入这些人的阵营中。他感叹道，经营VCNC已经让他够忙了，一个女朋友足矣。