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SOUTH KOREANS take romance seriously. Lovers are expected to swap sweetnothings many times a day and woe betide the clod who forgets a “100-day anniversary”. Some pairs dress in “couplestyle”, 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.
韓國人對待「浪漫」的態(tài)度可不含糊。韓國的情侶們一天要說好多次甜言蜜語，而且如果對方把兩人交往的「100天紀(jì)念日」忘記了的話，那么這個(gè)倒霉蛋的「末日」就要來臨了。有些人會(huì)選擇一起穿上情侶裝，比如像花哨的紅色運(yùn)動(dòng)衫，再配上一條藍(lán)色的牛仔褲。所以當(dāng)一家韓國公司專門推出了一款為情侶們定制的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)應(yīng)用時(shí)，很少有人對此感到大驚小怪。
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 andexchange 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 spendingvirtually nothing on marketing. Park Jae-uk, the firm’s boss, claims another200,000 users abroad, divided between China, Japan and North America.
這款名為Between（情侶間）的移動(dòng)應(yīng)用，是由韓國公司VCNC（Value Creators & Company）推出的。它可以為情侶們創(chuàng)建一個(gè)私密空間。在這個(gè)空間里，他們不僅可以分享彼此的照片和特別的往事，還能隨時(shí)隨地地進(jìn)行交流，互相發(fā)送一些像笑臉、眨眼、愛心等等的可愛表情。盡管這樣的應(yīng)用讓一些單身漢們覺得不爽，但是它還是迅速竄紅。從去年11月份面世至今，Between已經(jīng)擁有了超過56萬名韓國粉絲，而這樣的戰(zhàn)況也是VCNC并未在產(chǎn)品營銷上下任何功夫的情況下實(shí)現(xiàn)的。據(jù)該公司創(chuàng)始人樸在旭（Park Jae-uk）透露，Between的其他20萬用戶分布在中國、日本和北美三大海外市場。
Between is part of a trend towards intimacy in social networking. SomeFacebook users are fed up with the torrent of “friend” requests from peoplethey barely know. Others resent being tagged in embarrassing photographs theirboss can see. Hence the rise of services such as Path, an American network thatlimits members to 150 friends. Other networks, such as FamilyLeaf andStorytree, target families.
「Between」的出現(xiàn)僅僅是社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)領(lǐng)域「親密社交」發(fā)展方向的一員。一些Facebook的用戶對于發(fā)送給自己的那些無休止的“好友請求”已經(jīng)感到厭煩了，而且這些“朋友”他們幾乎都不認(rèn)識(shí)。另一些人則不滿于Facebook提供的這般服務(wù)：自己的上司可以看到一些有當(dāng)事人鏡頭的私密照片。因此，像Path這樣好友上線僅為150人，由美國網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司發(fā)布的社交軟件，才開始變得火爆起來。當(dāng)然，還有類似FamilyLeaf和Storytree這樣的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)應(yīng)用，它們主要服務(wù)的對象則是各個(gè)家庭成員。
VCNC is betting that couples particularly value their privacy. A message onone’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 asocial network for two differs from simply sending text messages back andforth. Between’s users presumably think the cynics lack romance in their souls.
正是考慮到情侶們特別重視屬于他們的隱私，VCNC才將賭注壓在了這樣的應(yīng)用上面?！咐锨槿恕乖谀愕腇acebook留言板上寫下一段話，這樣的信息就能把你的新戀情燒得精光。但是如果將其他不相干的人擋在門外的話，你們的愛情也就不會(huì)面臨這樣的危險(xiǎn)了。可能一些憤世嫉俗的人會(huì)問，這樣的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)和兩個(gè)人簡單地你來我往地發(fā)信息有什么區(qū)別嗎？那么Between的粉絲們可能會(huì)認(rèn)為這些人從骨子里就缺乏浪漫的細(xì)胞。
Revenue will come from advertising. The firm hopes that nice restaurantsand sellers of romantic holidays will pay to pitch to loved-up couples. It alsoplans to offer premium services, such as the printing of photobooks documentingthe progress of a relationship.
那么Between到底是如何盈利的？其收益將來自于界面投放廣告的費(fèi)用。VCNC希望一些優(yōu)質(zhì)的餐廳和推出了「浪漫假日」產(chǎn)品的旅行社能夠在Between上面發(fā)布一些針對情侶們的商業(yè)廣告，同時(shí)它還將向用戶們提供一些譬如將見證愛情之路的相片打印成冊的高端服務(wù)。
Swingers may be miffed to learn that Between allows only one partner peruser. 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 busyeven for one girlfriend, he laments.
有一些濫情的「花花公子」們可能在了解到Between只允許綁定一位戀愛對象時(shí)感到惱怒，但也有一些「愛情騙子」通過使用多重身份的方式，繞過了電腦系統(tǒng)的漏洞，達(dá)到了自己的目的，樸先生笑著說。不過，他可不準(zhǔn)備加入這些人的行列。他有些痛惜的談到，因?yàn)檫\(yùn)營VCNC已經(jīng)讓他忙得不可開交，甚至連交女朋友的時(shí)間都沒有。
