【推荐1】Growing up as kids we are told to share our toys and not to be selfish. We also live in an age when discussing our feelings is encouraged. But when does it all become too much? With new trends growing all the time, such as dance challenges and wearing a carpet as a dress, the question is: when can sharing become oversharing on social media?

“Oversharing” has become associated with social media, but it isn’t exclusive to this platform. Imagine you head to a party and meet someone. Within five minutes they have revealed private details about their life. While some of us may try to escape these people, according to marriage advisor Carolyn Cole, this form of oversharing could come from a strong desire to connect with someone. But how does this translate to social media?

Dr. Christopher Hand, a lecturer in cyberpsychology (网络心理学), says the more details people uncover, the less sympathy we express when things go wrong. It seems that searching for sympathy by oversharing is generally considered as negative rather than the cry for help it could really be.

However, Dr. Hand’s research also seems to suggest that the more we post on a platform, the more socially attractive we become-only if the posts that we share are positive. Even back in 2015, Gwendolyn Seidman PhD said that we should avoid complaining and being negative online. We should also avoid showing off, especially about our love lives. It makes sense-if your date is going “that well”, would you really have time to share a photo with text?

So, how can you know if you are oversharing? Well, why not ask your friends in real life. They would probably be happy to tell you if your posts about your breakfast or your complaints about your lack of money really are too much.

【推荐2】It’s become an accepted part of keeping up to date with your family and friends, but if schoolchildren were in their parents’ shoes, most of them say they wouldn’t share posts of their sons and daughters online. Over 55%said they would not upload news about, or images of, their children on their social media, according to survey of over 16,000 pupils by Votes for Schools.

While some were worried about being awkward or the long life of content which could remain online, others feared of their personal data being misused. One of the pupils surveyed said, “Although our parents mean well, sometimes the danger brought by sharenting(晒娃)can be huge.”

In response to the survey, children’s mental health organization Mishcon de Reya has produced three films ahead of the Christmas holidays—the best period for parental oversharing.

In one video, about safety online, 10-year-old Adavan said, “If you share anything with your family, you know who’s going to see it. But if you share it on your social media, there are millions of people who can see your picture.”

Joe Hancock, a security leader at Mishcon de Reya, encouraged parents to share wisely. “Simple steps, such as checking your network environment and asking others not to post content of your children on their accounts(账户)if they are not sure about the privacy settings, are a good start. And, as we found out from the children during filming, having their permission is key,” he said.

The study marks a change from the usual practice of teaching children how to use the Internet safely to warning parents against network risks. Sandra Davis, head of the organization’s family department, said, “Children are the real and immediate affected side of sharenting. We must ensure we listen to children and take their views into consideration now in order to avoid any unwanted results further down the line.”

【推荐3】The World Happiness Report, a United Nations agency report, measures (估量) how happy people are, and why. Norway is the happiest place on Earth—beating neighbour Denmark from the number one position.

Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland round out the top five, while the Central African Republic came last. Western Europe and North America took up most of the places at the top of table, with the US and UK at 14th and 19th.

The World Happiness Report mainly depends on asking a simple question of more than 1,000 people every year in more than150 countries. “Imagine a ladder (梯子), with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top,” the question asks, “The top of the ladder is the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder is the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”

The average result is the country’s score—from Norway’s 7.54 to the Central African Republic’s 2.69. But the report also tries to explain why one country is happier than another. It looks at reasons including economic strength (经济实力) social support, freedom of choice, and generosity.

This year’s report also has a text titled “restoring (恢复) American happiness”, which examines why happiness levels in the United States are falling, despite continually-increasing economic improvement. “The United States can and should raise happiness by solving America’s social problems- rising inequality and distrust-rather than focusing mainly on economic growth,” the authors said.

Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which published the report, said President Donald Trump’s policies were likely to make things worse.

【推荐1】My first year living in Los Angeles, I was a birthday-party clown. I struggled a lot with my identity because, I viewed myself as an artist while others viewed me as ridiculous. To make matters more confusing, being a clown is itself an identity-masking job.

One night, I was asked to play as Batman. At the time I had a giant mustache. But I didn’t want to change my physical appearance, because that would have been me admitting I was more of a clown than an artist. So I chose not to shave.

The next day, I went to the party. Once I got close enough for the kids to make out the features of my face, the entire party burst into laughter. I was so embarrassed. But then came loud applause. Feeling kind of warm, I was thinking, “Is this what encouragement feels like? It’s so new.” I was still about 20 yards away from the party when I started running. They all started cheering louder, and at that moment, I was Batman.

“You see, son. I told you Batman has a mustache.” said father of the birthday boy. I saw a huge Birthday cake with a frosting Batman drawn on it, and the Batman had a mustache. I stared at it in disbelief. That’s why everyone was laughing so hard when I first arrived, because when they brought the cake out, all the kids laughed, “Batman doesn’t have a mustache.” Instead of admitting the cake was messed up, the parents tried to save face and said, “No, Batman always has a mustache. He just shaves it for his movies.”

Naturally, the children were doubtful. But they were at the perfect age where they still believed in miracles. My mustache became the detail that confirmed what the parents had said and convinced the kids that I was actually Batman.

That year, I struggled a lot with my identity: was I an artist, or was I a clown? But that day, at least, there was no doubt in my mind what I was.

【推荐2】A friend of mine met with an accident driving in the darkness. His legs were so hurt that he couldn't move. What was the worst was that he found himself unable to ask for help—his mobile phone went out of work. Nothing could be done but to wait in cold wilderness. 8 hours later, day broke, and then the rescue arrived.

It is almost unimaginable that he could stand the horror in the darkness for so long. Even more surprising was his explanation: “First of all I checked up my physical conditions and found myself not in fatal danger. As there was no way to call for help, I leaned back in my seat trying my best to keep the wound from bleeding. In this way I dozed off.”

His story put an end to my regret for the failure of an exploration adventure that happened last year. A group of young men tried to explore a mountain cave and got lost. Unable to find a way out in the dark cave they were frightened and ran anxiously without a sense of direction. Finally they fell dead in fear and exhaustion. The place where they got lost was only about 10 meters away from the opening of the cave! If they tried to calm themselves, they would probably sense a faint light shining not far away.

Don't you think that you can compare it with life itself? When you meet with obstacles in life and work, you are lost in darkness. Mind you it's unclear yet and you needn't put up struggle immediately. But a person who can afford to do so must have foresight as well as a great courage.

【推荐3】When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.

“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted big stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement. Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!

The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.

“Now go and clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.

Though years have now passed, I still wonder where myrainbowhas gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

【推荐1】As one of the Olympic athletes, I miss countless birthday parties and ruin numerous family holidays, but there is a very good reason for giving up so much. I think of almost missing my brother’s wedding because I was too busy hiring a car and driving through the “no-go” areas in order to do a group ride with the local triathletes.

It boils down to this: I was born with an enormous amount of drive and determination. From a small girl, I would stay in at lunch time just to get ahead on class work rather than go out and play; I would get the bus on my own at ten years old and go to swim 100 lengths of the pool while other kids played pool games; I was the only girl in a rugby club of 250 boys. I have always lived my life to extremes. Call it unhealthy if you want, but that is the way I roll, no matter what it is I’m applying myself to.

Being a professional athlete is no different. If you want to be an Olympic champion, it’s all about that little extra thing you have done in your preparation that will set you apart from your competitors.

Can this be overdone? Absolutely. But if your dream is to be the best and reach the winner’s platform, you had better be totally committed to your sport. In the words of the British triathlete Alistair Brownlee, “Even if it means getting injured, I’d prefer to have three or four outstanding years of winning stuff than having ten years of being average.”

Doing what we do as athletes sets us apart because we are willing to do that extra little bit that might take us to the top. It is certainly not a balanced way to live and it is certainly not normal but those words are generally not used for anyone who is striving for greatness.

【推荐2】I grew up in Algeria and as a female, I’ve had to pay an extra price throughout my scientific journey as a result. I knew studying abroad would be key to my success, so I was extremely excited when I won a scholarship to attend a British university for graduate school. But there was one condition: I needed to take an English test. I was fluent in Arabic and French, the languages spoken in Algeria, but I didn’t have a solid grasp of English. I learned it hard but didn’t score high enough to secure entrance. I had to stay in Algeria to complete a master’s degree instead. But I kept learning English on my own. Two years later, I earned a Ph. D. scholarship to study in Switzerland.

Midway through my Ph. D. , a professor remarked, “You are quite productive, but why don’t you publish in the regular journals in our field?” Shocked, I responded, “What do you mean by regular journals?” He gave a few examples of all journals dominated by researchers from the Global North. I had been publishing my papers in specialized, low-impact journals. That was counted as a great achievement in my home country, where even professors struggle to get published. Now, I realized that the scientific accomplishments abroad I was proud of were regarded as below average at best. The professor’s comment heartened me to adjust my research to address issues of broader interest. By the time I graduated, I had started publishing in so-called “regular” journals, which helped me land a postdoctoral degree in Canada.

I told all this to the members of my lab, adding that they were privileged to grow up speaking English and have access to tremendous expertise and funding. Facing global inequities, I’ve started to try using a preprint server to integrate an English language proofing(校对) system into its platform, which would connect authors who need language help. We can take steps to make the global scientific community more inclusive. And I want to be part of that push for change.