International Journal of Social Science Research www.ijssr.net ijssresearch@gmail.com ISSN: 2146-8257 ©2019 IJSSR. All Rights Reserved Effects of Social Media use on Academic Achievement and Peer Relation in Adolescence Hatice Kumcağız 1 Ondokouz Mayis University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences Tuncay Yavuz Özdemir 2 Fırat University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences Yasin Demir 2 Fırat University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of social media use on adolescents' academic achievement and peer relationships. For participant selection, the purposive sampling method was used. To this end, in this qualitative study, adolescents with at least one social media account were reached. The data collected through a semi-structured interview form were analyzed by using content analysis method. The findings revealed that as the time devoted to social media use increased, adolescents’ academic achievement decreased and their peer relations were negatively affected. Although this appears to be a negative situation, this finding implies a critical opportunity with the effective use of e-learning environments. It may be more beneficial to give adolescents the opportunity to experience real social experiences rather than virtual social relationships; therefore, they may devote their time for more effective experiences. Received: 13.10.2019 Published online: 31.12.2019 Keywords: Use of social media, academic achievement, peer relations Extended Summary Purpose With the increase in access to the internet, the use of social media has become widespread among high school students. Nowadays, adolescents spend more time on social media sites comparing with middle-aged and older users. Specifically, Twitter and MySpace are the most preferred social media sites among adolescents. With the opportunity of interaction offered by social media, the sender can easily switch to the receiver status and vice versa (Kırık, 1 Corresponding author: Hatice Kumcağız Assoc. Prof. Dr. haticek@omu.edu.tr 0362 312-1919 / 5376 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0165- 3535 2 tyozdemir@firat.edu.tr https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5361-7261 3 yasindemir@firat.edu.tr https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-2456-1449