点赞” and “点赞族”

The Internet slang "点赞" (diǎn zàn ) comes from the "like" button in social networks, meaning that one agrees with or likes a post, an article or a Weibo message. Actually, in social networks, the number of likes indicates the degree of popularity.

“点赞”为一网络语言，来源于网络社区的“赞”功能。后引申为对（网络上的）某个内容（比如一条贴子、一篇文章或者一条微博等）表示赞同、喜爱。实则，在网络上面其点赞数量表示“人气”，即有越多越好的意义。

"点赞"consists of two Chinese characters. "点" means "to click". And "赞" (zàn), literally meaning " to praise", is a button in the shape of a thumb in some social networking apps, like WeChat, so if you like a message or a link or something your friend shares, you can click the thumb sign.

网络热词“点赞”中的“点的”意思为“点击（click）”，而“赞”的字面意思为“夸奖（praise）”。在诸如微信等社交APP中，“赞”的标志通常是为大拇指。因此，如果你喜爱朋友分享的某条朋友圈或链接，你可以点击“赞”按钮。

Examples:

例句：

bài tuō bāng wǒ diǎn gè zàn ba jí mǎn 50gè ，wǒ jiù kě yǐ lǐng miǎn fèi lǐ pǐn lā
Lili: 拜托帮我点个赞吧，集满50个，我就可以领免费礼品啦!
Please click the "like" button for me. If I get 50 likes, I'll get a free gift!

xíng wǒ zhè jiù diǎn
Xiao Lin: 行，我这就点。
Alright, I'll do it right now.

nǐ hé lì lì shì hǎo péng yǒu ma
Simon: 你和丽丽是好朋友吗？
Are you and Lili good friends?

suàn bú shàng yě jiù shì diǎn zàn zhī jiāo bà le
Xiao Lin: 算不上，也就是点赞之交罢了。
Not really, we are only casual acquaintances.

With the rise of social networks, a new group of people emerged – like-clicking addicts, people who "like" every post that other people share on Weibo or WeChat regardless of the content. They even "like" others' unfortunate experiences, such as having a car accident, getting robbed or a loved one falling ill. They seldom share any messages or make any comments. Whenever a new messages is shared by their friends in WeChat Moments, they immediately click the "like" button without commenting.

随着社交网络的兴起，网上逐渐出现了一个新的群体—“点赞族”，在论坛上，他们对任何帖子都是“留名”；在微博、微信，对于别人分享的内容，连车祸、被抢或亲人生病等伤心事也一律“点赞”。对于点赞族，点赞就是一种习惯。因为在微信朋友圈里，他们基本很少发状态，也很少评论，绝大部分活动就是“点赞”，每次看到微信好友发的新状态，先点个赞，然后就没下文了。

Why do they click the "like" button indiscriminately? There are mainly two reasons. First, they really like the message or links their friends share, such as the photos of beautiful scenery, delicious food and pretty girls. Second, the gesture is a way to maintain relationship with their friends, for they have no idea of what to say on seeing the post. Sometimes clicking "like" is all the commentary they feel comfortable sharing.

至于为什么不分青红皂白地“点赞”，主要有两种情况，一是这内容确实赞，比如美景美食美女之类；第二就是不知道该说什么。另一方面又要维护关系，所以干脆就点个赞了事。