Chapter One: Nancy Baym's Personal Connections in the Digital Age

As a media studies student I feel as though I am constantly learning about the negative effects of new media technologies. What I appreciated was how Nancy Baym played both sides of the story discussing both the positives and the negatives of the rapidly large place media and technology has claimed in our lives. Baym notes that media is changing our interactions with each other and ourselves.

Baym mentions the way in which media has influenced what is "real" or "IRL (in real life)." There seems to be a blur between what is virtual, digital, and simply real life. This ties in hand with one of the seven key concepts the chapter outlines; Interactivity, Temporal Structure, Social Cues, Storage, Replicability, Reach, and Mobility. Temporal structure is made up of both synchronous- direct, immediate, and asynchronous- thought out, mediated, communication. Through the use of these new media technologies we have the ability to think before posting, and in doing so display ourselves in a certain light that may not be our "real" self as opposed to more "traditional" forms of face to face immediate, synchronous, communication.

What resonated with me the most was the idea of "self-branding" within our social media presence. While this type of media provides us with instant gratification, friends "liking" a post or photo, it also allows us the ability to filter what we post on these sites. The idea of being in the "public" on these social media sites, but self-branding your profiles is important for success in a future career, something that people my age need to keep in mind having such widespread media presences.

While ultimately we adapt to these new media forms- especially those in my generation, keeping this in mind will help to not blur lines between the real and the virtual.