Well， parents， surprise！ Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to find rides[乘車]， and not just to school. Its awkward[令人尷尬的] to call a friend and ask for a ride， and half the time theyll say，“Sorry， my car is full.” But with Twitter， you just tweet #AshleysPoolParty and look for other people heading the same way.

It may sound risky[危險的]， but many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides， and dont branch out[擴(kuò)展范圍] beyond friends of friends when asking on Twitter. For me， I only rideshare with people I know， but to some young people， especially those taking longer trips， stranger danger is less of a concern.

Juliet Schor （Sociology professor at Boston College）： I think the digital connection of young people is really key， because younger generations grew up sharing things online， sharing files， sharing photos， sharing music， so theyve been very used to sharing.

The sharing economy got big during the recession[經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退]. It allows people to access more goods and services using technology， while also allowing them to share costs. And that technology， for me， is what the car was for my mom， a gateway to more freedom. Its like my friend Earl says.

Earl： The symbol[象征] of freedom isnt the car anymore because theres technology out there that could connect you to a car.

According to the researchers at the University of Michigan， 30 years ago， eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a drivers license. Today its six in ten. So its not that surprising that on my 16t h birthday I wasnt rushing to get a license. All I wanted was an iPhone. Professor Schor knows people my age love being connected.

Schor： One of the other important things about driving， for young people， is it means they have to disconnect from their technology， and thats a negative. So if they could sit in the passenger side and still be connected， thats going to be a plus[有利的因素].

To me， another plus is ridesharing represents[代表，象征] something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work， some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle注， you can find me on Twitter.

好吧，爸爸媽媽們，驚訝吧，我們（青少年）中很多人都用推特和臉譜來搭車，而且不只是去學(xué)校。打電話要朋友送是很尷尬的事情，一半時候他們都會說：“對不起，我的車人滿了。”但使用推特網(wǎng)，你只要發(fā)表諸如話題為“阿什利的泳池派對”的微博，然后尋找其他去往同樣方向的人就可以了。

聽起來也許有風(fēng)險，但是很多青少年保持在他們自己的社交圈內(nèi)找人搭車，而且在推特網(wǎng)上詢問時范圍最多不超過朋友的朋友。就我而言，我只和認(rèn)識的人共乘，但對一些年輕人來說，特別是那些需要更長時間旅行的人，就沒有太過考慮陌生人的危險性了。

朱麗葉·斯格爾（波士頓大學(xué)社會學(xué)教授）：我覺得年輕人之間的數(shù)碼聯(lián)絡(luò)真是意義重大，因?yàn)槟贻p的一代代人逐漸興起了網(wǎng)絡(luò)共享，分享文件、分享照片、分享音樂，所以他們已經(jīng)非常習(xí)慣于分享。

在經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條時期，分享式經(jīng)濟(jì)具有不平凡的意義。它讓人們可以運(yùn)用科技享用更多商品和服務(wù)，同時也讓大家分擔(dān)了費(fèi)用。而那種科技，對我來說，是通往更多自由的途徑，相當(dāng)于汽車對我媽媽的意義，正如我的朋友厄爾所言——

厄爾：自由的標(biāo)志不再是汽車了，因?yàn)橛辛俗屇隳軌蚝推嚶?lián)系起來的科技。

據(jù)密歇根大學(xué)的研究員所說，三十年前，美國18歲人群里10個中有8個擁有駕駛執(zhí)照，而現(xiàn)在此比例是五分之三。因此在我16歲生日的時候我沒有急著去拿駕駛證就不足為奇了。那時我所想要的就是一部蘋果手機(jī)。斯格爾教授知道我這個年齡的人熱衷和人聯(lián)系。

斯格爾：對年輕人來說，開車帶來的一些影響是，這意味著他們必須和科技斷開聯(lián)系，而他們不想這樣。所以如果他們能夠坐在乘客位置上，又依然能保持和人聯(lián)系的狀態(tài)，那就是他們想要的了。

對我來說，另一個有利影響是它代表了一些比努力省錢重大得多的意義。我將此看作人們?nèi)匀灰揽勘舜说淖C明。我這代人與人分享車和公寓，像過去鄰居們分享一杯杯糖一樣。要讓這個系統(tǒng)工作，我們有些人仍然需要有自己的車。但是直到我有自己的銀色大眾超級甲殼蟲前，你都可以在微博上找我（同行）。

★ Thumb a Ride

在美國，要搭順風(fēng)車的人通常會在路邊豎起大拇指向過往車輛示意，所以thumb a ride就非常形象地指代“搭順風(fēng)車”。例如：

1） He tumbed a ride to Seatle. （他搭順風(fēng)車去了西雅圖。）

2） —Do you want a thumb ride？ （你想搭順風(fēng)車嗎？）

—No， thanks. I will go for dinner with my friends. （不，謝謝。我要和朋友們?nèi)コ燥?。?/p>