Objective: To identify potential categories of problematic social networks use for college students and further analyze the association of different categories with online social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and to provide reference for formulating preventive measures to promote college students rational use of social networks. Methods: From May to June 2021, 1 082 college students from 3 universities in Shenyang, Liaoning Province were selected by convenient sampling. Students completed the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Assessment Questionnaire(PMSMUAQ), the Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS SMU) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES D), the latent profile analysis (LPA) and R3STEP were used to analyze the data. Results: College students problematic social network use was divided into three potential categories: moderate use group (31.98%, 346), mild dependence group (49.26%, 533), and deep addiction group (18.76%, 203). Logistic regression analysis showed that urban students had a greater proportion in the deeply addicted group ( OR =1.62, P <0.05). The incidence ratios of the mildly dependent and deeply addicted groups gradually increased as daily time spent online increased ( OR =1.11，1.20， P < 0.01). There were significant differences in online social anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students with different problematic social network use types( χ 2=188.70, 62.60, P <0.01), and the deeply addicted group scored higher on online social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusion There is heterogeneity in problematic social network use among college students. And to reduce the emergence of online social anxiety and depressive symptoms, college educators and parents should pay more attention to students with higher levels of problematic social network use.