疫情新趨勢：中國交友軟體蓬勃發展Dating Apps thrive in China with Covid

China is now letting dating apps flourish, even as it cracks down on much of its domestic technology industry. It is a strategic choice than for more than just romantic reasons. It is believed that dating apps could nudge people toward relationships at a time when China’s marriage and fertility rates are at record lows. The apps also help users combat loneliness as Covid lockdowns have wreaked havoc on social connections.

Some argue that dating apps are seen as technologies that can be effectively co-opted by the state,as these apps have explicitly framed their goals as helping Chinese society to thrive.

友善讓你懂│解說：

儘管中國近年對境內大部分科技公司進行大規模的制裁與打壓，但中國卻讓其中一項服務蓬勃發展－交友軟體。會有這樣的狀況，不只是浪漫的原因，而更像是一種戰略選擇，尤其在當下中國的結婚率和生育率處於歷史新低之時，交友軟體的服務可以促使人們建立關係。這些app還可以幫助用戶解決孤獨感，尤其是在新冠肺炎疫情造成的大封鎖對社交關係造成了嚴重破壞之後。

但也有一些人認為，交友軟體被視為可以與國家合作的技術，因為這些app已明確將其目標設定為幫助中國社會繁榮發展，因此得以存活。

輕鬆帶著走 │ 學習：

wreak havoc意思是「造成破壞」，兩個字常一起連用，wreak就是「造成，引起」，havoc就是「破壞，毀壞；混亂」，介係詞用on，例句：

The recent storms have wreaked havoc on crops. 最近的暴風雨給農作物造成了巨大災害。

本篇其他相關單字，介紹如下：

• flourish (v.) 蓬勃發展
• crack down 制裁、打擊
• nudge (v.) 輕推
• fertility rate 生育率
• thrive (v.) 茁壯成長、繁榮