Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking, in other words it is a way for people to interact and express themselves without being face to face . Social media has become an important part of the lives of teenagers, who make up the majority of the population of people who use social media in their daily lives. Many college students find themselves having to balance their social life with school and even athletics, making prioritization a major dilemma for them. College students in America are affected in many ways by social media, whether it's their social lives, their happiness, or their grades. Studies have shown that social media has a direct correlation with the social lives of college students. Teenagers these days tend to need social media; has become part of today's teen culture. Phones, laptops, and tablets can be found in a typical college student's dorm room. These are the main components used by college students for social media. It is very rare to find a college student without a phone or laptop. Almost all teenagers today are equipped with phones and use them to talk, text and even tweet. It has been said that college students spend too much time on social sites and on their phones. During my research I came across an article titled “The Effects of Social Media on College Students” by Wei Chen, and in this article there were statistics showing the average amount of time students spent on social media. The results showed that 73% of connected teens now use social media sites. Of that 73% of wired students, 45% spend 4 to 6 hours, 20% spend 2 to 4 hours, 12% spend 0 to 2 hours, and 23% spend more than 8 hours on social media. “The results show that...... middle of paper ...... a lot of time spent on social networks and on their phones but at the same time they are developing important knowledge and social skills. Social websites encourage negative behaviors and influence teenagers to take part in things that can be harmful to their lives. Social media also causes distraction for students and leads them to perform poorly in class. Works Cited McDaniel, Julia. “Social media impacts happiness, research says” The Tufts Daily. The Tufts Daily, November 20, 2013. Web.Nauert, Rick. “Social Media, Facebook and Twitter Use Can Hurt College Freshmen's Grades” Psych Central. Psych Central, April 12. 2013. WebDavis, Riley. “Social media use can lead to poor grades” The Brown Daily Herald. Brown Daily Herald, April 24. 2013. WebWang, Qingya; Chen, Wei; and Liang, Yu, “The Effects of Social Media on College Students” (2011). Scholarship for MBA students. Paper 5.