The development and popularization of new Internet communication channels and social networks caused a change in interpersonal relationships and everyday communication. The younger generation, which grew up in the presence of digital media, leads the way in the time spent with social networks, which often leads to the emergence of dependent and problematic use of social networks and risky exposure to negative disorders in the behavior of young people. This work sought to determine whether the frequent use of social networks led to a change in the communication patterns of the student population, which includes the way of talking, the choice of communication channels other than live communication, the easy and unhindered transmission of one's thoughts and wishes to others. Likewise, the research paid attention to the students' perception of the positive and negative impacts of social networks on their well-being and mental health and the connection of certain disorders in mental health and behavior with the frequent use of social networks. The research was conducted through an online questionnaire among 208 students in the Republic of Croatia. The results indicate that 55.8% of students prefer face-to-face communication over social media and express their opinions, attitudes and emotions more easily live. Awareness of the positive and negative aspects of social networks was confirmed by 63% of participants, but a significant 18.3% of those who believe that social networks do not leave a mark on mental health at all. Furthermore, there was a low level of understanding of negative behaviors and disorders such as fear of missing out, nomophobia, smombie, loneliness and social comparison in the online community, as well as a low level of presence of these. The presence of fear of missing out was recorded in 39.9% of participants, nomophobia was experienced by 31.7% of students, and 6.3% confirmed that they were smombies. Loneliness was most noticed when using social networks and as many as 60.6% of students expressed its presence. Comparing with others was confirmed by only 18.8% of the participants, and as many as 97.6% believe that social networks present an embellished version of someone's life. The obtained results cannot confirm a causal relationship with the frequent use of social networks. The research confirmed the need to educate the young generation about the close connection between the frequent and problematic use of social networks and the mental health of users as one of the growing problems of today.