I didn’t know it then but my world, my social world, was changing. Today, my 1, 500 Facebook friends — 1, 300 of whom I have never actually met—have already seen the best of the year’s haul of pictures of my kids. They also know where I’ve gone on vacation and sometimes, what I cooked for dinner or what I thought of a movie on a Saturday night in May. There’s little point to writing a Christmas update now, with boasts about grades and athletic prowess, hospitalizations and holidays, and the dog’s mishaps, when we have already posted these events and so much more of our minutiae all year long. The urge to share has already been well sated.
我并没有意识，但我的世界，我的社交世界，正在发生变化。如今，我的1500个Facebook好友——其中起码有1300个我从没见过真人，可他们早已看过我家孩子这些年来的照片。他们也知道我曾去哪度假，晚餐我做了什麽菜，或者我对五月某个周末的夜场电影有什麽观后感。现在去写一则关于圣诞节的更新几乎没有必要，夸耀成绩和运动本领，住院还是度假，以及家里的狗狗出意外，我们已经成年累月在播报这些“事件”，甚至有比这更琐碎的生活内容。与人分享的迫切感已经得到满足。
Likewise, as recipients, we already have real-time windows into the lives of people thousands of miles away. We already know exactly how they’ve fared in the past year, much more than could possibly be conveyed by any single Christmas card. If a child or grandchild has been born to a former colleague or high school chum living across the continent, not only did I see it within hours on Shutterfly or Instagram or Facebook, I might have seen him or her take his or her first steps on YouTube. If a job was gotten or lost, a marriage made or ended, we have already witnessed the woe and joy of it on Facebook, email and Twitter.
同样的，作为接受者，我们也有个即时的窗口进入他人千里之外的生活。我们也确切知道他们在过去的一年中表现如何，比起通过孤零零一张圣诞卡片可能表达的更多。如果一个远方的前同事或高中密友家里有孩子或孙子出生，数小时之内我不仅会从Shutterfly或Instagram或Facebook上获知消息，我还有可能在YouTube上看著他或她教孩子牙牙学步。无论是一份工作的得与失，一桩婚姻的成与败，通过Facebook、E-mail、Twitter，我们都是那份悲哀与欢乐的见证者。
Still, the demise of the Christmas photo card saddens me. It portends the end of the U.S. Postal Service. It signals the day is near when writing on paper is non-existent. Finally, it is part of a decline of a certain quality of communication, one that involved delay and anticipation, forethought and reflection. Opening these cards, the satisfaction wasn’t just in the Peace on Earth greeting, but in the recognition that a distant friend or relative you hadn’t heard from in a year was still thinking about you, and maybe sharing news about major events of the past 12 months.
尽管如此，圣诞照片贺卡的风光不再仍令我伤心不已。这是美国邮政服务业没落的前兆。这也是纸上书写形式行将不在的一个信号。最终来看，它是一种传达品质的衰落，一种涉及到延迟与期待，筹谋与反思的传达方式即将衰落。打开这些卡片，那种满足感不仅来自于其中的平安祝福，而且来自于你发现一年未见的远方亲友依然想念著你，可能还要与你分享过去十二个月中的一些新状况。
We know each other so well now, perhaps too well. And yet, all the time logged into our computers has also taken us away from our nearest and dearest. Who can say they spent as much time looking into the eyes of family, friends and neighbors as into the colorful phone or laptop screen last year? This season, in lieu of sending cards, my winter holiday greeting at the end of 2012 will be this: after posting the obligatory seasonal wishes online on Christmas Eve, I will be clicking off the electronic messaging services, and trying to connect in person with my friends, neighbors and family members for a change.
我们现在彼此有非常多的了解，很可能了解的过于多了。可是，不停登陆电脑的行为，已经让我们远离了身边的至亲至爱。谁敢说自己去年与家人、朋友、邻居交流时四目相对的时间，比盯在手机彩屏或笔记本电脑屏之前的多？这个冬季，作为寄贺卡的替代，我的2012年末节日问候将采取以下方式：圣诞前夜在网上发送那些必须的节日祝福语之后，我将换换花样，点击电子公告服务，试著亲自去连线我的朋友、邻居和家人。
And wishing them each peace and joy in the year to come, of course.
当然，我要祝福他们每个人，在未来的一年中，平安、快乐。
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