Social Networking Sites (SNSs) have become an integral part of the academic, social and professional lives of tertiary level students in Bangladesh today. This research is an attempt to see whether SNSs are more blessing or curse for the students of selected higher education institutions of Rajshahi city in Bangladesh. The cross sectional descriptive mixed method design was used. Primary data were gathered by structured survey questionnaire, which was administered to 50 tertiary level students from five institutions, namely, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi College and Teachers Training College in which students were selected purposively. Informal, non-structured discussions were held with selected students and administrators. Secondary data were sourced from recent academics literature, national and international digital reports and relevant policy sources. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) for quantitative data and thematic analysis for the interview notes. Results indicate that the engagement rate of the respondents with SNS is also high, with 35.9% of the respondents reporting that they use SNS for two to three hours daily, 20.5% for three to four hours, and 30.8% for more than four hours. Facebook was used the most (74.5%) but YouTube was believed to be the best platform for students (58.8%). The major uses were for entertainment (35.3%), communication (29.4%), and academic study (11.8%) alone. The majority of the respondents knew of earning opportunities from SNS use (80.4%) and of how SNSs affect mental health (88.2%); the majority respondents noticed that SNSs are prone to rumours and fake news (100%) and cybercrime risks (87.2%). In total, 62% of them perceived SNSs as a blessing, 20% as a curse, and 16% neither a blessing nor a curse. The study concludes that SNSs are conditional technologies, as their value is based on the purpose of use, length of use, digital literacy, institutional support and online safety practices, purpose, duration of use, digital literacy, institutional support and online safety practices.