While reading the New York Times article “Study says technology could transform society” by Robert Reinhold, I was amazed by how spot on some of their predictions were.  Especially when I read this “there will be a shift away from conventional workplace and school socialization. Friends, peer groups and alliances will be determined electronically, creating classes of people based on interests and skills rather than age and social class.” They basically predicted the whole social network phenomenon (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and etc.) and how people are now able to connect in new ways.  We are no longer bound by the old social constructs that they had in their time.  All you need now is a screen name/handle and you can talk to almost anyone who shares the same interests as you.  They even mentioned that there might be some unintended social side effects although at the time they did not know what it would be.  Unfortunately the side effect is a loss of some basic social skills, now someone will take their phone out in the middle of a conversation just to update their page.  Eye contact is slowly becoming a lost art, as more of us make it with our phone than with each other.  This article leaves me to wonder what side effect the next technological innovation will bring.