Blog Post #2- Nick Giunta

During last week's lectures, we watched the movie "Eighth grade". After watching it made me think about how my life was when I was in eighth grade. This movie showed the viewer how technology and social media-driven society is, even in the eighth grade.  Personally being born in 1999, when I was in the eighth-grade social media was not as big as it is today. With all these apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and BeReal it is easy to get attached to social media. The only real platform we had was Facebook, but it did not consume as much of our time as it does in this movie. I remember spending most of my time after school outside playing with my friends, rather than being behind a screen. I guess how I was brought up and the technology that was available at the time, I still do prefer in-person interaction rather than interacting on social media. I just hope as we transition into more and more technology reliant that people do not lose their in-person communication skills. 

"Our face-to-face interaction is continuously interwoven with media-related practices...(Coudlry and Hepp, 2017, p.16). 

That being said, I do understand that these apps and technology allow for a well-connected society with the advancements they are making are truly phenomenal. Also, understanding that the practices on social media are used to kickstart conversations in person but to an extent to which some may be socially awkward without a phone in their hand. That is why I am still a strong believer in face-to-face interaction as it is good for communication skills in a social setting.