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火爆社交网络的“假笑男孩”在开通微博后又掀起了吸粉狂潮。今天，跟着Quriosity去探索表情包红人背后的故事！
If you've never heard of eight-year-old Gavin Thomas, you clearly aren't one of the millions of people around the world who have fallen in love with the young internet sensation.
如果你还没有听说过八岁大的Gavin Thomas，那你显然不是这位年轻网络红人全球数百万粉丝中的一员。
But it isn't in his native United States where Gavin has really hit the big time, that honor belongs to China.
但Gavin真正爆红并不是在他的家乡美国，而是在中国。
Since creating a profile a mere four months ago on Weibo, a Chinese platform similar to Twitter, Gavin has gained an astonishing 1.8 million followers -- and the number continues to grow, along with his fame. On Twitter, by comparison, Gavin has a mere 450,000 followers.
Gavin在微博（一个与推特类似的中国社交平台）上开设了账户。短短四个月内，他的粉丝量已高达180万。而这个数字还在随着他的名气持续增长。相比之下，他在推特上只有45万粉丝。
Why is a young American, born in Minnesota and still in elementary school, an instant sensation in the largest country in the world? It's because of Gavin's unique facial expressions, which have become a hugely successful, viral meme.
为什么这样一个出生在明尼苏达州、还在读小学的美国年轻人，会在世界上人口数量最庞大的国家迅速引起轰动？这是因为Gavin独特的面部表情。它已经成为极其成功、传播性极强的表情包。
Gavin first made a name for himself in the US, when short videos of him playing with his uncle Nick Mastodon quickly became a hit online.
Gavin首次成名是在美国，他和舅舅Nick Mastodon玩耍的短视频在网上迅速走红。
But it wasn't until Gavin's videos spread organically to the Chinese cyberspace, particularly one of him reacting with a nervous smile to a gecko being placed on his head,that his fame truly took off.
但是，直到Gavin的视频被系统地传播到中国的网络空间，特别是一只壁虎放在他头上时，他露出紧张微笑的那一个，他才真正名声大噪。
A gif of Gavin's face, smiling awkwardly, might be used as many as 10 million times a day across China's various social media platforms, according to Ann Ding, founder and CEO of Dongtu.com, a major distributor of online gifs, told CNN.
一个网络动图的主要经销商“动图宇宙”的创立者兼首席执行官丁焱告诉CNN，一张Gavin尬笑的动图每天在中国各种各样的社交媒体平台上可能会被使用一千万次之多。
"Gavin seems to be more popular in China than in the US," Ding said. She'd know -- her company partners with major Chinese social media platforms affiliated with Tencent and Alibaba.
丁焱表示：“Gavin似乎在中国比在美国更红。”她在这方面很有发言权，因为动图宇宙是腾讯和阿里巴巴旗下主流中文社交媒体平台的合作伙伴。
She estimated that all of the total number of Gavin related gifs used across platforms in China has easily exceeded 1 billion. His debut on Weibo was widely reported by Chinese state media, and his first trip to China in August made headlines across the country.
丁焱估计，在所有中国的社交媒体平台上，假笑男孩的动图表情包总数至少超过十亿。Gavin开通微博账号的新闻被中文媒体广泛报道，八月份他第一次来中国的新闻也成为头条，火遍全国。
The fake smile boy
假笑男孩是谁？
While many Chinese people can't identify him by name, his meme-turned-gifs have been circulated widely across social media, primarily on WeChat, the country's predominant messaging app with 1 billion users.
当中国网友还不知道他的名字的时候，假笑男孩的表情包就已经在以微信为首的社交媒体上广泛传播了。微信作为中国主要的通讯应用，已经有超过十亿用户。
Gavin's nickname in China is "the fake smile boy" ，a reference to the eight-year-old's uneasy but polite smile which struck a chord with millions of Chinese internet users.
“假笑男孩”是Gavin在中国的绰号。之所以这样称呼他，是因为这个八岁小男孩尴尬而不失礼貌的笑容引发了中国数百万网友的共鸣。
39-year-old Cai Qianyi, who works in the media industry, said he constantly shares Gavin gifs online.
39岁媒体行业工作者的蔡谦义（音译）表示他时常在网上分享Gavin 的动图。
"I got to know him from the gifs other people sent me on WeChat. I saved the gifs to use as they are so appropriate to express myself," he told CNN.
他告诉CNN：“我是通过别人在微信上发给我的动图认识他的。然后我就把这些图保存下来，因为这些图非常适合表达我的情感。”
Chinese people, especially millennials, have latched on to Gavin's signature smile, the gif of which is used to express forced positivity in uncomfortable situations.
中国网友，特别是千禧一代，热衷于使用Gavin的标志性笑容去表达他们在不情愿的情况下强迫自己做出积极样子的心情。
"If someone says something embarrassing, but you don't want to shoot it down directly, the fake smile gif can convey your embarrassment while leaving a way out," Leo Li, a 21-year-old college senior in Beijing who uses the Gavin gif, told CNN.
来自北京的大四学生Leo Li告诉CNN：“如果别人说了一些让人尴尬的话，但你又不想那么直接地反驳他/她，就可以用这个假笑表情包，既表达你的尴尬又留有余地。”
Li said Gavin's "forced but polite smile" is a useful "social lubricant".
小李觉得Gavin“被迫的礼貌笑容”是一种实用的“社交润滑剂”。
Ding, the distributor of online gifs, said Gavin's smile has the kind of genuine emotion that hits home with Chinese people who need a way to express a feeling of polite reluctance."People use it as a form of self-mockery," Ding added.
网络动图经销商丁焱说，Gavin的笑，情感很到位，可以淋漓尽致地展现出中国人民想要表达委婉拒绝时的内心世界。“大家用它来自黑，” 丁焱补充说。
Million dollar baby
腰缠万贯的宝宝
American memes have gained temporary fame in China before, but unlike his viral predecessors Gavin's team has made the decision to embrace his popularity overseas.
以前也有美国的真人表情包在中国短暂走红过，但Gavin的团队可跟那些网红前辈不一样，这个团队选择了去主动亲近海外粉丝。
Soon after he opened his Weibo account, Gavin made a sponsored trip to Beijing to meet his fans in person, generating even more memes of Gavin posing in front of Chinese landmarks in traditional Chinese dress.
Gavin创建微博账号后不久，就获得了赞助到北京去会见粉丝，他还身穿传统中式服装在一些地标旁摆pose, 制造了更多的表情包。
At the same time, his store on Taobao, the hugely popular online Chinese online shopping site, has quietly opened and has started to sell merchandise such as phone cases with Gavin's smiling face on the back.
同时，他在中国最具人气的在线购物平台淘宝上的店铺也悄悄开张了，销售的商品有印着Gavin笑脸的手机壳之类的。
On his second trip to China in early November, he signed a contract with the Chinese internet giant Tencent to be featured in its new short video app -- Yoo."China is surely a key market, and it felt important for us to integrate into their culture and platforms to maximize the opportunity around his success there," Gavin's agent Byron Austen Ashley told CNN.
在十一月份初的第二次中国之旅中，他与中国互联网巨霸腾讯公司签订了合同，表示愿意成为其新推出的短视频app——Yoo的特色人物卖点。“中国肯定是关键市场，我们认为融入他们的文化和平台对于最大化Gavin在中国的成功几率至关重要，”他的经纪人Byron Austen Ashley告诉CNN说。
Experts say Chinese people's love for animated images in digital conversation is rooted in its culture of politeness.
专家说中国人民对于网络交谈中使用动图的喜爱植根于其注重礼节的文化传统。
"Chinese people tend not to be so blunt (in conversation) and are careful to avoid hurting others' feelings. But online communication is inherently straightforward, so people like to use funny images to relax the communication atmosphere," said Liu Qian, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communications at Beijing Normal University.
“中国人(在对话中)往往不会太直接，他们很谨慎，不想伤感情。但网上聊天从根本上说就很直接，所以大家喜欢用一些搞笑的图片来调动聊天气氛。”北京师范大学新闻传播学助理教授刘倩说道。
'He will grow up eventually'
他终会长大
As far as Gavin himself is concerned, he told CNN he is enjoying his fame in China.
至于Gavin本人，他告诉CNN自己很享受在中国出名的感觉。
"They love watching my pictures and videos, and they tell me I'm cute. Sometimes, they tell me they love me," he told CNN over email.
Gavin通过邮件告诉CNN：“他们喜欢看我的照片和视频，说我很可爱，有时候还会说爱我。”
But despite his success, celebrity always brings additional complications.
但是一个名人尽管取得了成功，也总会遇到相伴而来的麻烦。
In a country where copyright laws are not always strictly enforced, celebrities looking to build a brand in China will often find themselves pitted against "meme entrepreneurs" who react to the latest trends for a living.
在一个版权法执行并不严格的国家，想在中国打造品牌的名人往往会发现自己与“模仿者“之间的竞争，这些人专门蹭热点。
Gavin's agent Ashley told CNN that they have already had to take down several bootleg Gavin products since opening up for business.
Gavin的经纪人Ashley告诉CNN，自从开业以来，他们已经撤下了好几种Gavin的盗版产品。
Some are worried about Gavin's future earning ability as he's growing up quickly and cute facial expressions alone no longer work.
有些人担心Gavin未来的赚钱能力，因为他正在迅速成长，单单只是可爱的面部表情就不再管用了。
"Chinese people tend to love foreign toddlers...I don't know how long his fame will last. He will grow up eventually,"Gavin-fan Cai said.
“中国人往往喜欢外国萌娃……我不知道他的名声能维持多久，他最终会长大的。”一位姓蔡的粉丝说。
Others are concerned that a life under the limelight may have a negative impact on him.
另一些人则担心在聚光灯下的生活可能会对Gavin产生负面影响。
Batting aside these questions, his agent Ashley said that they have prepared alternate strategies to show his "amazing personality" when he's older.
除了这些问题之外，他的经纪人Ashley表示：他们已经准备好了其他的策略，可以在Gavin长大后显示他 “精彩的个性”。
He added that the team is making sure that Gavin is having fun in every project and that he lives life "as normal as possible."
他也补充说：团队正确保Gavin在每个项目中都能玩得开心，也保证他的生活“尽可能正常”。
"His dream is to be a YouTuber and he seems to be heading down the right path," he said.
Ashley说:“Gavin的梦想是成为一名YouTuber，他也似乎正走在正确的道路上。”
新闻来源 | CNN
图片来源 | CNN 新浪微博
编译 | 郑可意 刘与晨 张进宁 张文钰
指导老师 | 刘佳
排版 | 郑可意
