海天在线2013年考研英语基础阅读讲义（张培）.ppt

But when it comes to keeping in touch with his friends, Herman says both sites are too passive. He prefers the immediacy of instant messaging, from his PC at home and his cell phone when hes on the go. With IM, he says, you can connect with anyone, any time—thats what makes it great. Hermans not alone: Chinas Internet audience has, for the most part, given sites like Facebookand MySpace the cold shoulder. Even local Chinese sites like Xiaonei or 51.com have failed to establish big national followings. What may seem on the surface to be a stubborn backwardness on the part of the Chinese, however, could also be interpreted as a viable alternative to Western-style social networking. Many experts are starting to think that the Chinese are leading the way to a new kind of social Internet—one that emphasizes the kind of instant communication that Herman and his friends prize so highly. Recent surveys leave little doubt that a different kind of Internet culture is emerging in China—younger, more devoted, more addicted to speed and intimacy than its Western counterparts. With tens of millions of Chinese gaining access to broadband each year, says a recent study by the Internet research firm Netpop comparing China and the United States, Chinese have the potential to shape Web commerce and culture far beyond their own country. In many ways the big difference in China can be summed up in three words: instant mobile messaging. The low proportion of home PCs has made the mobile phone the preferred Internet-access device. And Chinese clearly prefer instant messaging—chatty, real-time communications that takes place via PC or cell phone—as opposed to ordinary e-mail, in which you never know when your correspondent might respond. Demographics play a role, too. The average age of Chinas 172 million Internet users is 35, seven years younger than their 211 million American counterparts. And unlike Americans, who tend to go online for information, Chinese go seeking entertai