Introduction: Social media (SM) has gained rapid adoption and provided new opportunities for communication. This study pilot tested a suite of SM use indexes to better measure and quantify the active and engagement levels for improved teaching and learning. An online survey was administered to an adult sample in higher education settings (n=372). Four major SM platforms were examined: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Six SM indexes were developed, with three assessing how active a person is in using SM, one measuring the likelihood of SM adoption, and two measuring engagement levels. The results demonstrated satisfactory internal consistencies. All indexes showed positive and clear linear correlations with participants’ view towards SM, demonstrating strong (criterion) validity (all p<.001). The findings also showed strong scale discriminant validities between early versus late adopters. This study provides a validated measurement tool to better describe how people have used SM and quantifies SM active and engagement levels.