The study was instigated by the observed reckless use of social media among undergraduate students. It engaged an assessment of a holistic involvement of social media activities and how it affects students’ academic performance in research methods in University of Calabar, Nigeria. The study is a survey descriptive design that systematically sampled out 860 undergraduate students from all the 13 Faculties in the university. The instruments used for data collection were a questionnaire and a test in research methods, the study covered the proportion of students who make use of social media, the purpose of social media usage by students, how much time students spend on social media, Identify the most frequently used social network by students, and how it influence academic performance. It was found that; students between the ages of 19- 30 years were more engrossed in social media activities, that most students use whatsapp platform for their activities, that most students spend between 3-5 hours daily on social media platforms. It was recommended among others that a seminar be organized to educate students of the appropriate use of mobile phone.