E-cash can’t buy favors without connections

The other day, a friend of mine, whom I hadn’t talked to in so long that I had almost forgotten her, popped up on my WeChat, and sent me an e-hongbao (a red envelope stuffed with cash). What happened? I wondered. Before I could greet her, she sent me a link and said, "Click the link and press the Like button."

一天，一个很久没有联系过我的朋友突然在微信中给我发了个红包。我感到很意外，心想：这是怎么回事？还没等我向她问候，她就发来一个链接并跟我说，“点击这个链接，并点个赞。”

"What’s that?" I asked. But I never got her reply, even till now. I opened the link with curiosity. It was an article about an activity organized by a company, where I assume she works. I also opened the hongbao, which contained 0.1 yuan ($0.015). I felt too embarrassed to return the money, and was propelled to press the Like button at the end of the article as she wished. It was not something I was interested in, but I wanted to do something in return for that yuan.

“这是什么呢？”我问。但是直到现在他并没有回复我。好奇之下，我打开了链接，链接是关于一个公司组织的一项活动，我想这应该是她工作的公司。我打开了红包，里面只有1毛钱。我实在不好意思把这1毛钱再返给他，所以无奈之下，我如他所愿，在文章最后点了赞。这个文章我并不感兴趣，但是由于收了人家红包，只好为他帮个小忙。

I understand that the Like button is a powerful tool that can be used to increase the fan base for brands, companies and even people. When I write something, I also want it to get as many readers as possible. But the marketing strategy is key.

我了解“点赞”功能是个很强大的工具，可以用来增加品牌、公司和个人的人气指数。当我发表一些东西时，我也希望能够获得更多人的赞赏。但是好的营销策略才是获赞无数的关键。

A few days after the episode I mentioned above, I wanted to promote my own article on WeChat. I posted it on WeChat Moments and asked some friends to help re-post it, yet the result was disappointing. One of my colleagues hit the mark, "People will read what you want them to read only when they get your hongbao."

这件事发生几天后，我想在微信中推广下我的文章。我在朋友圈发表了一篇文章，我请朋友帮忙转发下，然而我结果却是很让我失望。我一个同事直接跟我说，“只有给别人发红包，别人才会读你想让他们看的东西。”

I tried, with some skepticism. I chose a "friend group" with 500 people, all of whom were strangers to me, and blew 20 yuan for 10 people. I sent the hongbao to the group, and said what my friend told me earlier, "Click the link and press the Like button."

我虽有质疑，但还是尝试了一下。我选了一个有500人的“朋友群”，这些人对我来说都是陌生人，我给其中10个人发了20元红包，并和之前朋友那样说，“点击下链接，并点个赞。”

To my surprise, the 20 yuan was carved up in 5 seconds by people who seldom talked in the group. And the result? Only two opened the link and clicked "Like."

令我惊奇的是，20元红包在5秒钟内被抢完，然而只有两个人打开链接并点了赞。

As the traditional gift-giving habits get digitized and even become a national frenzy, friends and relatives exchange money as a way of entertainment, even though the amount of money on offer is very small. Chinese still have good feelings about getting a hongbao. But when hongbao are used for publicity and some try to lure people with money on WeChat, this entertaining activity becomes profit-driven.

随着传统的发红包习惯变成电子红包，全国人民为之疯狂，亲朋好友之间发电子红包成为一种消遣娱乐方式，即使红包金钱数额很小，收到红包很会非常开心。但是当红包用于宣传推广时，一些人试图利用红包来引诱人们，这种娱乐方式变成盈利的方式。

Perhaps people have gotten too used to the idea that money can buy you anything. As an old Chinese saying goes, "Do somebody a favor when you get money from him." At least, this was what I thought when I chose to "Like" the article my friend sent me.

或许人们心中多少都固有这个观点：钱能买来一切东西。中国有句俗语，“拿人手短，吃人嘴软。”至少我是这样想的，才给我朋友点赞。

Many people may feel propelled to do things they don’t want for the sake of money that they take from others. But my second experience shows that in the world of WeChat, this principle may not work.

很多人都会因为拿了别人的钱，被迫无奈去做一些他们并不想做的事儿。但是我第二次尝试证明，在朋友圈，这个规则并不成立。

After all, people feel unable to say no to the request of a friend no matter how distant the friend is. But in a WeChat group like 500-stranger group supported by weak interpersonal links, nobody cares about who you are and what you send, even when enticed by hongbao. Hongbao has to be backed up by another Chinese concept - guanxi (connections).

毕竟，人们不好拒绝朋友的请求，不管这个朋友有多疏远。但是在500个陌生人组成的微信朋友圈里，即使发了红包，也没人关心你是谁，你发了什么信息，。电子红包还得靠中国的另一个传统观念—“关系”来维系。

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar once noted that "friends exist to be shoulders to cry on and shoulders that are physically remote aren’t much use for crying on." This, at least, serves as a reminder not to waste money on social network platforms, where people feel more isolated and lonely than ever.

英国人类学家Robin Dunbar曾经说过“朋友就是在你需要帮助时给你安慰支持的人，但是遥远的朋友是无济于事的。”这也提醒人们不要把钱浪费在无用的社交网络平台中，那里人们更孤独。

完成阅读

来源:Global Times爱语吧作者:Cristina