Deciding when to use 就像 vs 像是 vs 像

Question

I may be mistaken, but if I use 就像 , 像是 or 像 in any of the sentences, they are pretty much the same. Is there a difference?

“他们说‘电视直播’时，就像我说‘报税’一样无可奈何

“They say ‘live TV’ the way I say ‘doing my taxes’ — with resignation,”

...夏洛特和阿萨认为所有的电视都更像是Netflix，而不是尼克儿童频道(Nickelodeon)：

...like many children, perceive all of television to be more Netflix than Nickelodeon

像夏洛特·纳尔逊这样的孩子，他们喜欢一醒来就打开任天堂Wii U(Nintendo Wii U)

Children like Charlotte Nelson — who likes to turn on the Nintendo Wii U

听起来像是年轻女性在和自己的朋友们聊天。

“Our goal was always to sound like how young women talk to their own friends,” she said.

Answer 1

in 就像, 就 means "just", so 就像 means just like and there is also 就像是. So the real problem is to distinguish 像是 and 像.

As a native speaker, I think 像 can always substitute 像是 but 像是 can not always substitute 像.

In your example, if I change it to 像是夏洛特·纳尔逊这样的孩子，他们喜欢一醒来就打开任天堂Wii U. Then it sounds weird.

Or 这孩子长得像你。 This kid looks like you.

will sound weird if you say: 这孩子长得像是你.

To be honest, it's hard to tell the difference even as a native speaker. So I suggest you to use 像 always. It won't make mistake at least.

Answer 2

In your last sentence, 像是 probably shouldn't be read as a single unit. Rather, 像 governs 是年轻女性在和自己的朋友们聊天. Thus, very literally, the implicit subject sounds like they/he/she/it is a 年轻女性在和自己的朋友们聊天. To clarify the previous answer's example, 这孩子长得像你 cant have an 是 because this child grew up to be like you makes sense, but this child grew up to be like being you does not. In other words, if you dropped the 像, would the sentence still be grammatical/make sense?