Reads for May 2016

Meet: SHAMELESS
微信最火爆的英文公众号

Shameless是目前微信上最火爆的英文公众号，堪称中国版Buzzfeed。Shameless上发布的《中国女人的床上表现》《如何在网上人肉你的约会对象》等文章流传甚广。今天，Shameless背后的神秘作者接受了我们的采访。

Shameless can be considered the Buzzfeed of the WeChat world, with erudite articles such as "How to stalk your date on the internet", "How to take a perfect dick pic," and "Chinese girls in Bed!!!" (from which we learned that Western women say "Oh yeah" in bed and Chinese girls say "Oh no" ［受不了了］and they mean the same thing). On this lovely day, the Master/Mistress of Shameless has agreed to sit down virtually for an interview. Let's see what's in store.

 1. Why are you hiding your identity, you spineless prick?
 你为什么要采用匿名的身份写作？

The first article by Shameless, 8 Types of Foreigners in Beijing, was inspired by people around me, and I was afraid they would take it too personally. Later on I realized people would make random guesses about my identity, then take sides and make a judgment. People tend to think that I hold certain positions on the topics I write about, and that I am very likely to be biased because of my race and nationality. In reality, I’m not trying to push any agenda. It’s very interesting to stay behind the curtain and watch the audiences’ opinions evolve. All I am doing is to provoke thoughts and lay out the results, like a social experiment.

我的第一篇文章《八种类型的北京老外》其实是根据我身边认识的人为蓝本而写的，为了避免不必要的撕逼，我才采用了匿名的方式。后来我发现，其实读者很喜欢在立场上进行站队。他们因此默认我也是根据自己的身份站了队的，于是他们不停地根据文章里的蛛丝马迹来臆测我的国籍和种族。然而实际上，我并不想做任何立场上的输出。之所以一直坚持做这个博客，我个人更加倾向于认为它是一种社会实验。我想一直呆在幕后，让读者的意见自己去发酵，然后再不带任何色彩地把结果为大家展示出来。

2. How much hate mail do you get, and what are some of the more interesting pieces you've received?
你收到过多少骂你的邮件？有什么特别有趣的吗？

In the first 2 or 3 months, I got 3 hate mails per week on average. I rarely get any emails ever since I integrated the comments feature -- instead I get hateful comments.

There are three types of hate mails/comments: the angry Chinese guy who thinks I’m stupid white trash, the sad Chinese lady who uses crying emojis to shame me, and the progressive hipster who points out the flaws in my logic and calls out my lack of credibility. 

My personal favorite is a comment I got for writing about US Elections. An American dude commented that it was totally “racist, narrow minded, and propaganda-filled”, while the whole article was actually a joke on how centralized the Chinese political system is.

在最初的两三个月，平均每周我都会收到三封撕逼的邮件。后来微信开通了评论功能后，撕逼的战火从邮件烧到了评论区。

一般情况下和我撕逼的有三类人：一是愤青型，不由分说地认为我是一个脑残老外；二是动之以情型，一般是女生，会发一些“你这么讲让我真的很伤心”这类的话；三是晓之以理型，会不停地指出我的逻辑漏洞，批评我的公信度。

我个人最喜欢的撕逼评论其实是发生在我写美国大选的那一期。一个美国读者留言说我的文章是在替中国政府给民众洗脑，但其实事实上我整篇文章都是在影射集权式的政治体系。

3. Follow-up: do you reply to your hate mail?
你会回复这些人吗？

I only reply to the ones that make me laugh. 
- You stupid foreigner, get the fuck out of China!
- [Tears of Joy Emoji] x 3

每当有人骂我骂的很搞笑，我都连回三个笑cry的表情。

4. How would you describe your sense of humor?
你怎么描述你的幽默感？

Simple. It’s either exaggeration or comparison. Or dirty jokes. Or fart jokes. 

My humor is not for everyone. It’s an acquired taste, like jazz, cigars, and wine. I’m known as a conversation killer on Tinder because of my weird, awkward, inappropriate jokes, so I apologize if we ever matched.

非常简单。无非是对比和夸张，再就是黄段子……

我的段子类型是只有有品位的人才能欣赏的，就像雪茄，红酒和爵士乐一样。-____-|||

我经常在tinder上抖包袱，但由于太奇怪，基本上对方就不会回复了……所以如果你曾经在tinder上碰到一个讲话很奇怪的家伙，抱歉啦。

5. Some might say you tend to make fun of women more than men. Is this true? And if so, why do you think this is? Are men more difficult to make fun of? Or do you actually hate women more?
有些人认为你以女性为搞笑对象的文章更多，是真的吗？如果是，你觉得是为什么？是因为以男性为搞笑对象比较难，还是说你自己讨厌女性？

It is absolutely true that I make fun of women more. I make fun of women more because I write about women more, and I write about women more because women are more interesting. Women are sexy, cute, sneaky, emotional, sensitive, and crazy. I can tell you that I am secretly a feminist, but I am not going to tell you that it’s because I believe feminism helps dudes get laid. Yeah, fuck my sense of humor.

你说的没错。我之所以写更多的搞怪女性的段子，其实是因为我本身写的女性话题就更多。我之所以写更多的女性话题，其实是因为我觉得女性更有话题点。女性是一个复杂的群体，她们让人疯狂同时她们自己也很疯狂。我可以说是一个女权主义者，但我不会告诉你其实是因为我相信女权让女性变的更加性开放——一个典型的shameless风格的笑话，呵呵。

6. What are your most popular pieces and why do you think they're so popular?
你最受欢迎的文章是哪些？你觉得它们为什么会这么受欢迎？

Top 3 posts in terms of views are How to Drink with Chinese, Chinese New Year Survival Guide, and 5 Types of Chinese TV Dramas, all highly related to Chinese culture. Shameless may have the largest foreign reader base, but WeChat is still dominated by Chinese users. An article can’t go viral unless it catches the attention of the massive Chinese readership, even though most of them may not understand the style of Shameless.

阅读量最高的三篇文章分别是《如何和中国人愉快地喝酒》，《中国农历新年生存指南》，和《五种类型的中国电视剧》。这三篇文章之所以阅读量高，是因为和中国文化息息相关，导致大量的中国读者分享，加速了传播。

7. Do you wish to start any other projects once Shameless has gone bust? (Follow-up: Do you hope Shameless will go bust so you don't have to think up a new "Top 5" article every week?)
你会在Shameless做不下去了以后做一些其他的项目吗？另外，你会不会默默地希望Shameless有一天做不下去了，这样你就不用每周写一个“五种类型的xxx”了？

I do secretly hope Shameless would go bust when I feel frustrated and uninspired, but most of the time I feel there’s still a lot to write about. I’ve been trying to set up some side projects lately, such as videos and live broadcasting, not because I foresee Shameless going bust soon, but because I want to share more with the readers in different forms of content.

每当我没有灵感或者写烦了的时候我就很希望不再继续做Shameless了，但大多数情况下我还是觉得有很多话题还可以写。我目前也在做一些其他的小项目，不是因为我觉得Shameless做不下去了，而是我想为我的读者带来更多类型的内容。

8. Where is the best place to go in Beijing for:
在北京你推荐什么地方，如果你想：

- Unwinding after work?

Drink fake Long Island Ice Tea at Haven.

- Complaining about life to a stranger?

Sneak into someone else's booth at Sirteen.

- Finding a quick lay?

Pick up whoever is drunk AF at ELEMENTS.

- Finding a slow lay?

Borrow a lighter from someone while waiting in line for the bathroom at Migas.

- Finding some meaning in life?

Meditate on the crappy red sofa at DADA.

- 消除工作一整天后的疲累?

在Haven酒吧喝一杯假酒做的长岛冰茶。

- 跟陌生人抱怨人生？

在Sirteen偷偷溜进别人的卡座。

- 快速约一炮？

在ELEMENTS看谁醉的最厉害就带谁走。

- 慢慢调个情？

在Migas排队上厕所时以借打火机为由搭讪。

- 寻找人生的真谛？

在DADA的破烂红沙发上冥想人生。

9. Anything else you wish to say?
你还有什么想和大家分享的吗？

I am very proud that my parents actually read Shameless every week, and my dad has provided a lot of constructive feedback. My dad is cool. Be like my dad. Follow me on WeChat.  
我的爸爸妈妈也是Shameless的忠实读者，尤其是我爸爸，经常会提出很多建设性意见。我的爸爸妈妈太酷了，请向他们学习，关注Shameless吧！

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