I had the chance to talk to survivors, shed tears with them, and we faced the fear ofaftershocks, flood and contamination together. We were all scared. But at least we knew whatwas happening — unlike many farther away, who relied on what second-hand information theycould obtain.

我抓住机会与幸存者交谈，跟他们一起流泪，我们共同面对余震、洪水及污染所带来的恐惧。我们都很害怕，但至少我们知道这里发生了什么——不像外面的人，只能依赖他们能够得到的一些二手信息。

No one had to rely on such reports last week. Still on the bus in Beijing, I sent an instantmessage to my friend. “A disaster, she replied, “like the end of the world. Fortunately myparents were living far enough away, so they are OK.

上周的爆炸发生后，人们不必再依赖此类报道。还在北京公交车上时，我给朋友发了一条信息。“一场灾难，她回复说，“像世界末日。幸亏我父母住得足够远，所以他们没事。

You did not have to know someone in the stricken city to know what was going on. Mysmartphone buzzed with all sorts of information: pictures of the blast site, apparently taken bya drone; video footage of the shock wave; logs written by reporters on the scene.

你不必认识受灾城市的人就可以获悉那里发生了什么。我的智能手机不停地收到各种信息：爆炸现场的照片(显然是由无人机拍摄);爆炸冲击波的视频;现场记者所写的日志。

【中国社交媒体 打破沉默也带来杂音】相关文章：

★ 奥兰国际发声明驳斥浑水对其质疑

★ 土耳其迫使叙利亚客机降落搜缴“违禁货物”

★ 香港女性成全球最长寿人群

★ 双语：中国人均寿命增速有点慢

★ 手机到底有多脏？

★ 朝鲜发射远程火箭，声称卫星进入轨道

★ 中国电商价格战搅动零售市场

★ 飓风一周 美国逾170万家庭仍断电

★ 中概股在美受挫 美国交易所被批看门不力

★ Lex专栏：汇丰麻烦还没完