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Love, Korean-style
韓式之戀
Two's company
兩個人的專屬網絡
The world's most exclusive social network
世界上最專一的社交網絡
SOUTH KOREANS take romance seriously. Lovers are expected to swap sweet nothings many times a day and woe betide the clod who forgets a "100-day anniversary". Some pairs dress in "couple style", in the same garish red sweater and blue jeans combo, for instance. Small wonder that a Korean firm has created a social network for couples.
韓國人向來注重浪漫。一天之內，戀人總是交換甜言蜜語數遍不厭倦。若是誰忘了"100天紀念日"，那他可就要倒霉了。一些情侶穿著情侶裝，諸如艷麗的紅色羊毛套衫搭配藍色牛仔褲。由此，一家韓國公司開創了一個專屬于情侶的社交網絡，這也沒什么好大驚小怪的。
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, 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. Park Jae-uk, the firm's boss, claims another 200,000 users abroad, divided between China, Japan and North America
韓國公司VCNC開發了一款叫"Between"的社交應用。這款社交應用給情侶們提供了兩個人的專屬空間。情侶們可以分享相片，珍貴的時刻，可以即時聊天，以及交換一些可愛的表情符號（如笑臉，眨眼，愛心等等）。不得不說，"Between"讓單身人士感到惡心，但它卻引領起一股風潮。自去年十一月推出以來，超過56萬的韓國人愛上了它。實際上，VCNC公司并沒有在營銷上做出太多動作。公司老板樸在旭（Park Jae-uk）宣稱Between在海外擁有20萬用戶，并分布在中國，日本以及北美。
Between is part of a trend towards intimacy in social networking. Some Facebook users are fed up with the torrent 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.
如今社交網絡趨向私密化，Between也緊跟這種潮流。一些Facebook用戶已經對源源不斷的"好友申請"感到厭倦。這些好友申請通常來自于他們幾乎不認識的人。而一些用戶則討厭被標記在一些尷尬的照片上，因為這些照片連他們的老板也看得到。因此，一些社交網絡服務的崛起，諸如Path,就嚴格限制了好友的封頂數為150人，而其它的一些社交網絡，如FamilyLeaf和Storytree的目標受眾則是家族成員。
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. Between's users presumably think the cynics lack romance in their souls.
VCNC認定情侶之間特別重視個人隱私。在Facebook上一條舊情人的信息足以破壞一段新戀情。屏蔽掉"前度"或者其他人則可以移除風險。有些憤世嫉俗者可能會問，Between和簡單的來回發短信有什么不同。Between的用戶可能會認為，這些批判者是骨子里缺乏浪漫基因。
Revenue will come from advertising. 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 services, such as the printing of photobooks documenting the progress of a relationship.
未來，Between的收入將來自于廣告。VCNC公司希望一些高品質的餐館，以及一些以浪漫假期為主打商品的商家可以來它的網站做宣傳，VCNC由此收取廣告費。VCNC同時計劃推出一項付費服務，例如將相片集結成書，以此來記錄情侶之間的感情歷程。
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.
得知Between只允許每位用戶擁有一位伴侶，一些濫交人士可能會有些許惱怒。樸先生笑著說，然而有一些騙子卻騙過系統的法眼，使用了多重身份。他自己不可能加入這些人的陣營中。他感嘆道，經營VCNC已經讓他夠忙了，一個女朋友足矣。
