Social media plays a big role in the daily life of undergraduate students. It provides opportunities for conversation, entertainment, information sharing and educational activities. However, overconsumption may reduce study time, cause distraction and negatively affect academic performance. The present study has examined the pattern of social media usage and its effect on academic performance among the undergraduates of Government First Grade College, Rabakavvi-Banhatti. The research sample included 140 undergraduate students. Academic achievement was measured by cumulative grade point average (CGPA). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics which include frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The statistics showed that WhatsApp and YouTube were the most used social media sites, and a large percentage of students spent two to four hours per day on social media. The respondents had a reasonably high average CGPA, and the respondents with a significantly low average CGPA had extensive daily social media use. The respondents mostly used social media for academic purposes. The findings show that the effect of social media on schooling is highly dependent on the duration and the reasons for its use. Hence, judicious digital use, good time management and purposeful educational use of social media are advocated.