In her book of essays, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, Tolentino writes about how social media shapes identity, public discourse and political engagement, particularly for millennials such as herself. “The Internet has obviously been an incredible ground for social movements being organized,” she says. “You saw the Parkland kids did it, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo …”

But she warns that expressing opinions online can feel misleadingly meaningful. “It’s always a starting place, it can never be an ending place,” she says.

In nine new essays, Tolentino, a staff writer at The New Yorker, explores a number of pressing moral questions in the digital age. What does it mean for a generation of millennials to live under constant watch? What is lost when one is expected to maintain a relentless online presence? There’s a fatalistic streak running through these selections, but it’s one that might help us bring about a fairer world.