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"The question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we really presenting who we are or are we presenting a hyper-idealistic version of ourselves? It has been argued that the social media effect creates a false sense of self and self-esteem through the use of likes, fans, comments, posts, etc. For many social media users, it is an esteem booster, which explains why so many people spend so much time on social media. It provides many individuals with a false sense of self and an inflated sense of who they really are. In considering these points, here are three important factors to consider while social networking:"

"If you're not already logging and quantifying your moods, don't worry. Apple declared self-care apps the top app trend of 2018, and they've been growing in number by the month. There are thousands available to guide you along your happiness journey. And while it's hard to come out against a pro-snacking, nap-positive app genre, the boom in self-care and digital wellness shouldn't automatically be a cause for celebration. It's a reason for pause  - and maybe even cause for concern, given the questionable quality of some of them. "

"In the lead-up to tonight's film, Generation Like, we've been asking our Facebook and Twitter communities to tell us why you use social and how it's affecting your lives. Hundreds of you have told us about the choices you're making - and why you're making them. We've asked a few writers who've thought a lot about social media to read your comments and reflect on them in the context of tonight's film. We also want to hear from you! Share your reactions below in the comments. Does Social Media Empower or Exploit? Douglas Rushkoff, Generation Like correspondent Douglas Rushkoff: Does Social Media Empower or Exploit? Generation Like correspondent Douglas Rushkoff is the author, most recently, of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, as well a dozen other books on media, technology and culture. He was correspondent on three previous FRONTLINE films, The Merchants of Cool (2001), The Persuaders (2004), and Digital Nation (2010). Follow him on Twitter @Rushkoff. In the lead-up to Generation Like, FRONTLINE has been asking questions about social media on social media. As I wade through the many responses, I am reminded of my own questions about these platforms when I began making this documentary. Like me, many of you are thrilled by the opportunity for connection and self-expression that social media offer.   Calum James Facebook is the best communication tool ever created. February 12 at 7:02pm   But many of you also share a sense of skepticism about what it is that social media - and the companies behind them - ask from us in return.   We all know this has something to do with our data. We create consumer profiles for the unseen companies on the other side of the screen, and enter into a relationship with them that isn't entirely clear. "Who is doing what for whom, and to what end?" The need to understand this better - and what it means for the young people using this stuff - is what set us on our journey to explor

"You may have heard that self-driving cars are safer than cars with human drivers. And that's probably true. Still, as driverless vehicles inch closer and closer to the country's freeways and side streets, we'll probably hear more and more about AI-controlled vehicles getting into deadly accidents. Even a perfect driver can't avoid every accident. So if a self-driving car finds itself in a situation where a deadly accident is inevitable, how should it make a decision to minimize the damage?"

"Tavi Gevinson of 'Rookie' Inspires Young Women to Create Communities of Self-Empowerment"

"Buying more stuff is associated with depression, anxiety and broken relationships. It is socially destructive and self-destructive"

"That itch to glance at our phone is a natural reaction to apps and websites engineered to get us scrolling as frequently as possible. The attention economy, which showers profits on companies that seize our focus, has kicked off what Harris calls a "race to the bottom of the brain stem." "You could say that it's my responsibility" to exert self-control when it comes to digital usage, he explains, "but that's not acknowledging that there's a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job is to break down whatever responsibility I can maintain." In short, we've lost control of our relationship with technology because technology has become better at controlling us."

Post-production enhancement of beauty advertising has been standard operating procedure from the age of the air brush to the age of Photoshop, but an action seen by some as long overdue from the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus against Procter & Gamble Co.could change that. The NAD today announced that P&G had discontinued superior-performance claims and a post-production-enhanced photograph in print advertising for its CoverGirl NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara after the industry self-regulatory forum launched an inquiry into the claims and photos.

"To the uninitiated, Reddit looks like a mess - text links, comment threads, points, upvotes, downvotes. At best, posts seem contextless - at worst, totally random. But spend some quality time with "The Front Page of the Internet," and you'll find it's an essential resource, a self-correcting marketplace of ideas that's nearly impervious to marketers."

"PARK CITY, Utah - Dove is debuting at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on Monday a short film that explores how social media is shaping the way the we perceive beauty. The 7-minute short film called Selfie follows a series of teenagers and their mothers who are asked to take self-images that highlight their insecurities about the way they look. In an experiment reminiscent of Dove's viral "beauty sketches" ad, the participants learn some of their disliked attributes are what others consider to be the most beautiful."

"Facebook's News Feed, a homepage built by our friends and organized by our clicks and likes, isn't really a "news" feed. It's an entertainment portal for stories that remind us of our lives and offer something like an emotional popper. In fact, news readers self-identify as a minority on Facebook: Fewer than half ever read "news" on the site, according to a 2013 Pew study, and just 10 percent of them go to Facebook to get the news on purpose, as opposed, say, being assaulted by a breaking news event when you're just scanning baby photos. To see this more clearly, let's compare the BuzzFeed network's most viral stories-i.e.: the stories that go biggest on Facebook-to the top stories on Twitter and the most-searched stories. First, here are the top stories on Twitter in 2013. It's a blend of news, like terrorist attacks and music shows, and evergreen silliness with Ryan Gosling and Kim Kardashian. "

"Just before the holidays, late-night comedian Conan O'Brien poked a little fun at local TV newscasts. In doing so, he illustrated some serious issues about the compromises journalists make in understaffed newsrooms. O'Brien has aired similar montages in the past, capturing repetition in local stories about such topics as Cyber Monday shopping, restaurants that serve political-themed food, and the news that actor Mike Myers and his wife were expecting a baby. The compilations are popular fodder for Internet discussions, where viewers attributed the homogeneity to "consumerist propaganda," "controlled brainwashing," and "corporations spitting out prefabricated copies of fake news." The truth is less conspiratorial. Each story O'Brien featured was supplied by a syndication service that distributes scripts, video clips, and fully-produced news packages to local stations. The self gifting story came from CNN Newsource, which claims 800 affiliates. (CNN is part of Time Warner, which also owns the TBS cable channel that airs "Conan.") You're almost certainly watching syndicated content when your local newscast shows video of national or international stories. Stations also rely on Newsource for sports highlights, business and consumer reports, entertainment news, and stories CNN categorizes as "Caught on Camera," "Animals," "Kickers," and "Easy to Tease.""

"Reddit is the self-proclaimed front page of the Internet -- a community of people who submit links and vote them up or down based on their quality, novelty or general ability to generate amusement."

"Ladies, Special K wants you to stop with the fat talk. According to the cereal company's new 2-minute spot, 93% of women engage in some form of social media self-shaming. To help put an end to the negativity, online and in real life, Special K created a nondescript clothing store and posted real, fat-talking tweets around the store and on price tags."

"Junk attention is a "mental equivalent of obesity," says Matthew Crawford. He fears a "creeping saturation of life with hyperpalatable stimuli," as companies engineer experiences that only a "freak of self-control" could resist. They're like junk food's killer combo of sugar + fat + salt orchestrations."

"Mindfulness teaches individuals to be present in and embrace the moments of life, rather than be suffocated by the constant self-criticism and anxiety that so often plagues our minds. 12 Mindfulness Hacks in 24 Hours Practicing mindfulness isn't just for the Zen Buddhists, sitting in lotus flower positions on the tops of snow-capped mountains. In fact, you can practice numerous mindfulness techniques in a single day."

"However, when considering our current fixation on representation, I have to wonder if we have overlooked other meaningful ways of being represented, those that can be pinpointed only in life experiences and emotional phenomenon beyond the visible self. When I think of all the "black art" being ushered in by this new era, I feel conflicted. As a black person, I enjoy seeing artists whose careers are finally being given due praise and whose voices are at last being amplified. However, a question arises of what it means to be truly represented. Is it enough to look like the artist if you do not recognize yourself in the art? And yet there is nothing simple about it. Representation is such a complicated issue because on the surface it presents itself as a politically correct, objective good for all of society. For those being represented, it plays to a collective sense of pride and personal vanity. It feels good to see ourselves and know that people in our communities are being paid to craft their own narratives. Representation also presents the opportunity for other communities, which might have otherwise stereotyped or discriminated against us, to see our humanity and acknowledge our worth in the art we produce. However, while representation may be a praiseworthy standard for creative industries, it cannot be the bench mark against which we measure good art. Good art must do more than reflect our own images back at us. It must move us to a place beyond our obsession with identity, sense of tribalism and fear of others."

"It is hard to escape mass media these days. Images and messages bombard us from the Internet, television, magazines, newspapers, radio, bill-boards. Societal messages can come from the government and education sectors, as well as more explicit industries such as beauty, health and fitness. Advertisers have worked hard to create images that make us feel as if we are lacking somehow, so that we want to buy their products. It is not just ideas about looks that we get from society. We also infer how our personalities, talents and achievements "should" be."

"Oryx and Crake is speculative fiction at its finest. Part dystopian satire, part post-apocalyptic nightmare, the novel examines the flaws of contemporary society through the lens of an imagined future that could all too easily come to pass. But examines isn't the right word for what Atwood accomplishes here; eviscerates is more fitting. As in The Handmaid's Tale (1985), her classic takedown of totalitarian theocratic misogyny, the author's satiric wit is razor-sharp and unsparing. Oryx and Crake isn't a book for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Potential outrages include a narcissistic, self-pitying protagonist who treats women poorly, unflinching depictions of child pornography and sex slavery, all manner of unfettered consumerist debauchery, and (spoiler alert) the deliberate annihilation of the human race by a brilliant scientist. Oh, and corporations control the world, social and economic inequality are endemic, catastrophic climate change is a given, and science and technology, especially genetic engineering, are exploited purely for profit by said all-powerful corporations without regard for human consequences. If some of these details sound uncomfortably like the present, well, that's the point. Oryx and Crake isn't about the future; it's about the present. The book is about us. Whatever future ultimately comes to pass-dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or otherwise-we are responsible for it. This story is our story. "

"Many students feel there is nothing wrong with sending out a few quick texts or jumping on Facebook during class, and many are proud of their self-perceived ability to keep abreast of classroom discussion while their attention is divided. But a new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut shows multitasking is hurting college students more than they think. In a survey that probed the multitasking habits of more than 350 college students, UConn researchers found that students who multitasked while doing homework had to study longer, and those who frequently multitasked in class had lower grades on average than their peers who multitasked less often. While prior studies have reported that classroom multitasking can hurt students' grades, the UConn study is believed to be the first to take into account whether students' prowess at multitasking and additional time spent studying offset the tendency for poorer academic performance. It did not."