Impacting my life?

I've not always been one to keep too in tune with the trends going on in the world. I usually just go on to the beat of my own drum. I see fads as they are, an ongoing circle of what's is "in" and what is "out" that will eventually make its circle back around. So in no surprising aspect would it be weird for me to consider social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. apart of the status quo that I am distanced from until I got my smartphone. 

When I got my device a tremendous thing happened. I began living my life on my phone through these social media sites, more specifically Instagram. I constantly feel as though I NEED to look and see what is going on: what picture is Kat posting and who is that guy pictured with Sam? I feel more connected to these people through weak ties, which goes along with what Stone's theory is, and I never thought that I would be that person. What is it that brings us to these points of making us feel connected to these people through a screen? Is it a comforting fact that is easier than meeting up face to face? It's an odd phenomenon that our generation has been sucked into that is not comforting to me. 

Now I am not saying all social media is bad because it does give us that feeling of being connected to those that we have distance issues with, but where do we draw the line? When does it begin to impact our lives? It's already started on mine. I notice myself begin to dwell from the crowd that I am in because instead of me feeling, god forbid awkward, I look to my phone for comfort. I feel as though it is this thing that is permanently attached to my hand, and I can't escape it. Further more, aren't we all just trained to act in this manner? It is expected to have a phone for easy reaching out, even at a young age. It's not common for a parent to have these expectations of you through these mobile devices so that they can be apart of your lives. So maybe the impact on everyone's lives isn't for the good or maybe it is. I think it all comes down to knowing when and where to draw this line that we tend to toss back and forth over.