use of social media in literature review

• DOI: 10.24193/jmr.38.7
• Corpus ID: 230641966

Social Media. A Literature Review

• Chi Thi Phuong Duong
• Published in Journal of Media Research 25 November 2020
• Sociology, Computer Science

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A systematic review of social media as a teaching and learning tool in higher education: A theoretical grounding perspective

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• Published: 01 March 2023
• Volume 28 , pages 11921–11950, ( 2023 )

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• Eva Perez   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4476-899X 1 ,
• Stefania Manca 2 ,
• Rosaura Fernández-Pascual 3 &
• Conor Mc Guckin 1  

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The use of social media in higher education has been demonstrated in a number of studies to be an attractive and contemporary method of teaching and learning. However, further research and investigation are required in order to align social media's pedagogical benefits with the theoretical perspectives that inform educational practices. It is the objective of this study to provide a systematic literature review using bibliometric analysis techniques and content analysis to provide a map of research produced between 2009 and 2021. This study aims to identify theoretical frameworks, current research trends, and patterns in this field. A total of 772 publications were analysed using bibliometric methodology, while a subset of 55 publications were analysed using content analysis. As indicated by the results, there is still a growing interest in this area of research, with recent studies still focusing on attitudes towards the use of social media in teaching and learning. According to the content analysis, technology acceptance theories and learning theories are the most commonly used reference theories. This field has yet to elaborate on pedagogical theory, and there is a tendency to rely primarily on technology acceptance models rather than pedagogical models. A discussion of future practice and research implications is also provided.

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1 Introduction

The popularity of social media, among students, has increased dramatically in recent years because of technological advances in Web 2.0 tools (Eid & Al-Jabri, 2016 ; Tess, 2013 ). Indeed, social media has attracted over three billion active users across the globe (Statista, 2022 ). Such technologies have demonstrated their potential for learning and teaching due to its functions for document exchange, virtual communication and knowledge information (Hosen et al., 2021 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2017 ). Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), and online games have been widely used for information gathering and dissemination, collaborative learning, and online social and professional connections (Cao et al., 2013 ). Most recently, Manca’s ( 2020 ) review of Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and WhatsApp revealed that the two most common activities used for learning by students were content development and discussion for peer learning/assessment. The potential use of social media for teaching and learning activities has received an increased amount of interest and attention from the scholarly community (Barrot, 2021a ). A number of studies have presented evidence regarding the use of social media by academics for personal, professional, and teaching purposes (Johnson & Veletsianos, 2021 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016a , 2016b ). In terms of specific social media platforms, some researchers have found that Facebook groups are an effective tool to support learning, affording benefits not offered by traditional online Learning Management Systems (LMS) (Barrot, 2018 ; Chugh & Ruhi, 2018 ; Hew, 2011 ; Niu, 2019 ). Similarly, Tang and Hew ( 2017 ) noted the potential of promoting positive learning using Twitter to access and create digital content and collaboration between learners. Recently, studies have extended towards the utility of social media platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat. Manca ( 2020 ) notes that whilst these platforms have been gaining considerable attention among young people, they have been largely overlooked in the scholarly literature.

Social media, however, has also been shown to challenge traditional beliefs about education and pedagogy in schools and universities. According to some scholars (Manca & Ranieri, 2017 ), educators should pay particular attention to the following themes, primarily communication between students and teachers and professional conduct, as well as the integration of social networking practices into academic and teaching practices from a technological and educational perspective. Besides, other challenges included cultural and social factors that resulted in the erosion of teachers' traditional roles, the management of relationships with students, and privacy threats. Other factors included psychological resistance, traditional visions of instruction, a lack of technical support, perceived risks, institutional issues, pedagogical views, pragmatic reasons, and values.

Despite the increasing level of interest and the growing body of empirical research on specific uses of social media (Alshalawi, 2022 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016c ; Sobaih et al., 2016 ), very few studies have been conducted to systematically examine how academics are utilizing social media within their teaching engagements and have mapped the use of social media in education across the various disciplinary fields (Barrot, 2021a ; Rehm et al., 2019 ).

Although social media use in higher education has become relatively common (Barrot, 2021a ), there is still much to be researched in order to develop a better understanding of its use as a teaching and learning tool (Sutherland et al., 2020 ). In fact, research has demonstrated that evidence-based pedagogical approaches informed by relevant empirical research are weak (Chugh et al., 2021 ). Thus, there is a necessity for further empirical work, grounded in teaching, learning, and educational technology theories, that can advance this growing field of education (Valtonen et al., 2022 ). The challenge for the development of a pedagogy for social media integration is to encourage robust and theoretically driven research that can explore the application of established learning theories and the facilitation of social media in teaching and learning (Churcher et al., 2014 ). Our belief is that focusing on the need for theoretical integration can help mitigate some of the shortcomings associated with the challenges described above.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the use of social media for teaching and learning purposes in higher education (2009–2021) utilizing bibliometric methods and content analysis. A primary objective of the study is to assess the degree of theoretical soundness of the studies published to date and to map the current state of the art in regard to the use of social media in teaching and learning.

This study focuses on two aspects of value: on the one hand, it examines the theoretical robustness of studies regarding teaching and learning processes based on the use of social media in higher education that have been published to date; on the other hand, it employs a mixed-method approach combining bibliometric analysis with qualitative analysis to examine the teaching and learning processes. It is our understanding that this is the first study that attempts to accomplish these objectives.

2 Theoretical background

2.1 learning benefits of social media in higher education.

Various studies have demonstrated the use of social media as a supportive and interactive tool for learning in higher education (Everson et al., 2013 ; Greenhow & Galvin, 2020 ; Manca, 2020 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2013 ). Some studies have focused on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (Everson et al., 2013 ) or Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and WhatsApp (Manca, 2020 ). The benefits of using social media in higher education has been shown to promote student-centred pedagogies (Camas Garrido et al, 2021 ). For example, the most commonly reported positive effect of Facebook is its capacity as a learning tool for enhanced communication, collaboration, and sharing of information (Niu, 2019 ). Indeed, Facebook groups are the most reliable feature to conduct learning activities (Manca & Ranieri, 2016c ), whereas Twitter has most commonly been used for communication and assessment purposes (Tang & Hew, 2017 ). In general, the use of social media has a positive impact on student learning. However, this is not necessarily attributed to the technologies per se, but to how the technologies are used, and how certain pedagogy and/or instructional strategy is developed (Hew & Cheung, 2013 ). As argued by Greenhow et al. ( 2019 ), educators should show clarity in studying evidence-based pedagogical approaches to teaching.

Some researchers (e.g., Churcher et al., 2014 ) have reported upon how the application of learning theories can facilitate social media integration in order to create virtual communities of practice and generate positive learning outcomes. The main focus of social constructivist learning theories is on learning as a process of active discovery and the construction of knowledge in a social and cultural context (Aubrey & Riley, 2016 ). In this line, social media support social constructivism theory (Dron & Anderson, 2014 ) as it is perceived by educators to provide direction for social constructivist teaching styles (Rambe & Nel, 2015 ). In addition, the connectivist approach views learning as a network phenomenon influenced by technology and socialization (Siemens, 2006 ), as learners are encouraged to engage in peer-to-peer dialogue, sharing resources and promote communication skills (Siemens & Weller, 2011 ). From this perspective, social media can provide a platform for mixing learning and social activities (Manca, 2020 ).

In general, while students at all levels seem to harbour positive views on academic uses and applications of social media, educators appear to be somewhat more cautious than students (Piotrowski, 2015 ). Academics are most likely to use social media for research and career development than to support learning and teaching activities (Chugh et al., 2021 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016b ). This is likely due to the fact that it can be difficult for educators to maintain best practice of pedagogy while continuously learning how to incorporate emerging technologies (Churcher et al., 2014 ). Existing research on the use of social media in higher education has been mostly about the effectiveness of social media as a teaching and learning tool (Manca & Ranieri, 2013 , 2016b ; Tess, 2013 ), but there has been a lack of empirical data (Mnkandla & Minnaar, 2017 ) and support from theory (Al-Qaysi et al., 2020 ).

Ngai et al. ( 2015 ) argue that the development of a theoretical framework for work in this area can be supported by a combination of both technology and educational theories. Al-Qaysi et al. ( 2020 ) found that whereas the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT: Katz, 1959 ) and the social constructivism theory (Wertsch, 1985 ) are the most widely used educational theories in social media, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM: Davis, 1989 ) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT: Venkatesh & Davis, 2000 ) are the most extensively used technology theories in studying social media adoption in education.

Indeed, there is a lack of theoretically based research that could lead to a coherent set of practices regarding the use of social media use in higher education. This shortcoming of theoretical development in pedagogical approaches to the use of social media in higher education has important implications also for social media literacies. Manca et al. ( 2021 ) remind us that educators who do not integrate learning theory into their teaching practices run the risk of having a superficial understanding of the construction and development of meaning in favour of centring technology.

This review of the literature purposely focuses upon research that is theoretically grounded and examines the most recurrent models and theories adopted to support pedagogical use of social media in higher education.

2.2 Systematic reviews on social media in education

The increasing number of systematic reviews related to the use of social media in education highlights the importance of these reviews in shaping educational research, identifying future research directions, and bridging the research-practice divide (Chong et al., 2022 ). Scholars have adopted several approaches to systematic reviews of scientific literature: (1) qualitative synthesis (e.g., Manca, 2020 ; Niu, 2019 ); (ii) meta-analysis (also known as quantitative synthesis) (e.g., Al-Qaysi et al., 2020 ; Mnkandla & Minnaar, 2017 ); (iii) qualitative and quantitative synthesis (e.g., Greenhow & Askari, 2017 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2013 , 2016b ; Manca et al., 2021 ; Tang & Hew, 2017 ); (iv) bibliometric analysis (e.g., Barrot, 2021a ; Lopes et al., 2017 ; Rehm et al., 2019 ); and most recently (v) mixed methods approach using bibliometric analysis and qualitative analysis (e.g., Barrot, 2021b ).

Most recent systematic reviews have utilised bibliometrics—a quantitative analysis of the bibliographic characteristics of a growing body of literature (Lopes et al., 2017 ). Although there has been an increase in the use of this approach across various academic fields, the method is relatively new to educational research (Arici et al, 2019 ; Chen, Zhou & Xie, 2020 ; Gumus et al., 2018 ; Song et al, 2019 ). In the area of our interest, there has been a paucity of research that has used the bibliographic method, even in conjunction with more traditional approaches, such as qualitative ones.

In their bibliometric analyses, Lopes et al. ( 2017 ) explored the use of Facebook in educational research, used Web of Science as the database to generate 260 articles from multiples levels of screening. The study found that most articles focused on social media, student’s learning, and case study research designs. It validated the versatility of Facebook as a platform for teaching and learning across different countries and disciples, however it did not study theories or models that can best examine Facebook acceptance.

In their bibliometric analysis, Rehm and colleagues ( 2019 ) focused on multiple social media platforms. Their findings showed that five out of the top 20 cited papers across all journals on instructional design and technology scholarship between 2007 and 2017 were on social media, indicating the growing interest in this topic within educational research.

Barrot ( 2021a ) examined the scientific literature related to the use of social media for education. They found that, out of the 15 examined social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube attracted the greatest attention. The data also revealed that studies on Facebook (9 out of 10) stand out in terms of citation. These findings suggest a growing interest in the use of Facebook for educational purposes. The authors suggested two possible reasons for this. Firstly, as the number of social media platforms and active users increases, so too does the number of research projects that explore their pedagogical use. Secondly, the more sophisticated the platform, the more likely it is to be used for teaching and learning.

From this review, it can be seen that only a few studies so far have mapped the scientific literature of social media in higher education using a mixed method approach – more precisely, content and bibliometric analyses. To complement and extend these earlier reviews, the current systematic review mapped the scientific literature of social media as a teaching and learning tool, giving a wider coverage to determine which theoretical frameworks can best examine the acceptance and pedagogical use of social media in higher education. Thus, the current study was undertaken to understand the landscape of scholarly work in social media as a teaching and learning tool in higher education, particularly its growth, geographical and publication distribution, speech patterns, referring to most commonly used terms or dominant terms, regarding the evolution of the term “social media”, and the analysis of theories / models that are used to examine social media acceptance and adoption in higher education.

3 Rationale and research question

In this study, social media is examined from a theoretical perspective, with a focus on studies which have used theory to help explain social media integration as a teaching and learning tool in higher education. A body of literature has developed recently that links theory with the use of social media in terms of pedagogical best practice. For example, the TAM model (Davis, 1989 ) was utilised to examine the educational outcomes of social media use in teaching (Cao et al., 2013 ), whereas social constructivism theory was used to investigate the potential of Facebook and wikis as collaborative learning tools (Churcher et al., 2014 ). Advancing previous traditional and single method approaches to reviewing literatures, this study advances a mixed-methods approach to explore connections among research articles published between 2009 and 2021. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions:

What are the main characteristics of the scientific literature in terms of (a) year of publication, (b) publication outlets, (c) leading countries, and (d) affiliations and core authors?

What are the most frequent speech patterns and research trends within the studies?

What theoretical frameworks / models were employed in the studies to guide social media integration in education? And, which study aims are most commonly aligned with such frameworks / models?

A mixed methods approach combining quantitative (bibliometric analysis) and qualitative (content analysis) methods was used to develop a complementary picture of the research area in terms of context for trends (Plano Clark, 2010 ) and to triangulate findings in order that they may be mutually corroborated (Bryman, 2006 ). Qualitative content analysis is useful for “... the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ; p 1278). Bibliometric analysis is a rigorous, systematic, and innovative method for analysing publication productions and research trends (de Oliveira et al., 2019 ; Erfanmanesh & Abrizah, 2018 ). It enables the identification of relationships among different aspects of the scientific literature through the analysis of publications and documents according to specific characteristics, such as authors, journals, institutions and countries (Esen et al., 2020 ).

The analysed studies were sourced from ERIC and Web of Science and those published from 2009 to June 2021 were included. 2009 was the first recorded fit for the criteria of concern to this study, which is in line with recent studies that have highlighted that social media started to gain attention in 2010 (Valtonen et al., 2022 ). The Web of Science (WoS) was used as a search database in this study since it is the most important bibliometric database (Pranckutė, 2021 ), whereas ERIC on EBSCO databases was used as a subject specific database in education research (ERIC,  https://eric.ed.gov/?faq ).

To increase the accuracy of the current analysis, books, book chapters, and book reviews were excluded, with a focus on peer-reviewed articles, proceedings papers, and literature reviews (Leong et al., 2021 ).

The two databases were searched using the following search string:

(TS = (("social media" OR "social networking site*" OR facebook OR twitter OR Instagram)) AND TS = (("higher education" OR "third level" OR universit* OR college OR academic*)) AND TS = ((teaching OR learning OR "educational tool*"))) AND ((LA == ("ENGLISH")) NOT (DT == ("BOOK" OR "BOOK REVIEW" OR "BOOK CHAPTER"))

This study methodology is based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines (Moher et al., 2009 ). PRISMA supports a transparent approach for systematic reviews and ensures a replicable procedure (e.g., review protocol, search strategy, article selection criteria). When considering the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of literature the emphasis was upon studies assessing the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool and not, for instance, as a marketing / communication too. In addition, studies focused on English as a second language were excluded as these are often seen as courses that provide support to leaners, rather than leading to a defined exit award per se. Table 1 presents the screening criteria.

The first screening of sourced articles ( N  = 4,277) involved analyses of titles and abstracts. This process resulted in 812 records. Some reasons for exclusion included: studies related to studying English language; use of social media for communication purposes; studies focused on cyberbullying; social media addiction; social media marketing.

The second level of screening involved checking the full paper, classifying the study in terms of sources and to identify theoretical frameworks or models—hence selecting them for the content analysis. This resulted in 772 records, which were all eligible for bibliometric analysis. The following four characteristics were most predominant: (i) studies presenting a theoretical framework / model ( n  = 55), (ii) empirical studies about teaching and learning without theory ( n  = 221), (iii) studies about perceptions and attitudes without theory ( n  = 424), and (iv) conceptual studies ( n  = 72). For the content analysis, only the 55 studies that utilised a theoretical framework / model were included (Fig.  1 ).

The PRISMA flowchart

4.1 Procedure

Analyses commenced with bibliometric analysis of the 772 articles obtained through the second screening, identifying the main characteristics of the selected publications (year of publication, publication venues, authors, institutions, countries, and most frequent used terms).

Network visualization displaying the relationships among the main words used in abstracts were created using the VOS clustering technique (Van Eck & Waltman, 2010 ). VOSViewer software provides distance-based maps and identifies the clusters of co-occurring words, enabling identification of most used terms and the relationships between them (Van Raan, 2019 ; Waltman et al., 2010 ).

To display the dominant terms, full counting method has been considered (Leydesdorff & Park, 2016 ). Thus, each publication has the overall weight equal to Ni (Ni being the total number of terms in the “i”-publication) and each term has a weight of 1. The size of the circle and the label in the map is associated with the weight of a term. In general, the stronger the relationship between two terms, the closer they are located on the map. We have considered the “total link strength attribute”, which indicates the total strength of a term’s links with other terms (Gutiérrez-Salcedo et al., 2018 ). Whilst curved lines on the maps represent the links between terms, colours are used to indicate the cluster to which each term belongs.

Finally, the evolution of “social media” and other main terms used in abstracts were analysed and presented with the overlay visualization in Vosviewer (terms are coloured based on their year of publication). We used the viridis colour scheme obtained from Matplotlib, where by default, colours range from blue-green to yellow scheme.

For the second analytic component of the study, qualitative content analysis methods were applied to the 55 studies resulting from the second screening. The objectives were to gain an in-depth understanding of the theories/models employed in the studies and to identify the main research aims linked to the employed theories/models. Content analysis was based on a number of categories which were adapted from Manca and Ranieri ( 2013 ) and derived from analysis by author 1 and author 2. This process resulted in the following categories: (i) attitudes of social media as learning tool (studies which main aim was to investigate students’ or instructors’ attitudes towards the use of social media); (ii) social media as a supportive learning tool (studies that supported active collaborative learning, student engagement, effective communication, enhancing group task performance); (iii) efficacy of social media as learning tool (studies that focused on the impact of social media on different aspects of teaching and learning, such as: community building and informal learning). For the purpose of ensuring a level of reliability, an iterative process of analysis was carried by author 1 and author 2, and the individually derived codes were double-checked by comparing results. Once the set of codes had been recognised, dataset coding reliability was calculated (Cohen’s k = 0.85). The disagreement was resolved with discussion and subsequent consensus.

5.1 Study characteristics

Figure  2 provides the time evolution of the annual scientific production for the period analysed. The number of publications shows an upward trend until 2018, with two relatively higher values in 2015 and 2018. A slight decline is observed from 2019 onwards. The sharp drop during 2021 is due to the fact that the study covered the period between January and June of that year. We have applied a segmented linear regression (Liu et al., 1997 ), with two break points, in 2015 and 2018 (Liu & Qian, 2009 ). The segmented least squares forecast for the year 2021, provides an estimated annual value of 74 publications with a high reliability (R 2  = 0.94).

Number of papers on social media as a teaching and learning tool (2009–2021). *estimated value in 2021

Table 2 shows the number of publications by journal (conferences proceedings were not included). This represents the distribution of the journals with a production of seven or more records involving 91 publications (11.7% of the corpus). It was found that Computers & Education and Education and Information Technologies have published the most articles on social media as a teaching and learning tool, with a total of 18 articles each. The Australasian Journal of Educational Technology , Computers in Human Behaviour , and Internet and Higher Education had 13, 12, and 9 related articles, respectively.

The scholars who published the most articles are presented in Table 3 . Overall, the data set containing the 772 articles comprises a total of 2,754 authors. For the purpose of this particular set of analyses, details about professional profile and number of publications are focused on journals only. The average number of co-authors was 3.56. Therefore, authors with more than four relevant published articles were considered core authors in the aforementioned field. The list is a combination of nine leading and emerging scholars from wide geographical areas. As shown, three scholars are from universities in Malaysia, three from Romania, one from Hong Kong, one from Italy, and one from South Africa. The disciplinary areas of the core authors represent a variety of disciplines, with many of these related to the education and technological fields.

5.2 Dominant terms and research trends

The final part of the bibliometric analysed the most frequently represented words in abstracts to identify most used terms and research trends (Han & Ellis, 2019 ; Leung et al., 2017 ). Firstly, the empty words (e.g., connectors, conjunctions, prepositions, articles, adjectives) were omitted. Secondly, words whose frequency was less than 20 occurrences in abstracts were considered not relevant to the research and were excluded. Synonyms and acronyms were associated. Finally, 305 terms with the largest levels of occurrence in the abstracts were included in the analysis from a total of 22,079 words. The analysis of these terms is illustrated in Fig.  3 and Fig.  4 by means of five clusters, each represented by a different colour. The distribution of the number of keywords by year of publication is presented in Fig.  4 .

Most used words found in abstracts

Evolution over time of terms in abstracts

The word student was the most commonly used word in the abstracts ( n  = 2,156), followed by social media ( n  = 1,077), use ( n  = 1,043), Facebook ( n  = 858), and learning ( n  = 667) (see Table 6 in Appendix A for terms with more than 120 occurrences). These results indicate that the articles mostly focused on Facebook use as a social media for learning. Furthermore, the platforms that attracted the greatest attention were Facebook ( n  = 858) and Twitter ( n  = 274). Figure  3 shows the most used word in abstract. As can be seen, the high impact term “student” presents strong connections with use, social media, learning, technology, tool, social network, group, Facebook, and Twitter. Five clusters of terms were discovered as part of the visualization. Each cluster was constituted from a set of terms that are clearly delimited by their location in the map. These clusters reveal the presence of five thematic strands in the literature that focus on: (i) “student-education-platform-process-communication” (colour red); (ii) “Facebook-Twitter-participation-interaction” (green); (iii) “Learning-Use-Technology” (blue); (iv) “social media-university-social media use-social media platform-educational use” (yellow); and (v) “academic attitude-performance-intention-usefulness-satisfaction” (purple).

When the distribution of these words is shown on a year-by-year basis (Fig.  4 ), it is revealed that studies focused on the study of Facebook page, Facebook use, informal learning, and peripheral terms such as blog, community, video, or web, is located in the initial years under study. High impact terms such as Facebook, student, learning, use, education, or social network are published on average in studies between 2014 and 2016. The term “social media” is introduced from 2016, in papers between 2017–2018, linking it to terms such as “data”, “educational use”, and “educational tool”. From 2018 onwards, the focus of the studies is towards “attitudes”, “influence”, “intention”, “performance”, or “satisfaction”.

Four research trends are identifiable throughout the period of study (Table 4 ). From 2010–2014, studies were mainly focused on Facebook as a community of practice, blog, and for informal learning. From 2014–2016, Facebook was still relevant, but studies had more emphasis on the educational learning process of the use of Facebook by students. During the period of 2016–2018, the term “social media” peaked and studies were focused on social media for education and as an educational tool. From 2018 onwards, the focus of the studies was towards “attitudes”, “influence”, “intention”, “performance”, or “satisfaction”.

5.3 Theoretical frameworks/models

The findings show that only 55 studies out of 772 cited a theoretical framework or model, this is only 7% of total number of studies. Content analysis was used to analyse more in-depth information about the 55 selected papers. A total of 16 frameworks/models were identified. They were grouped into six categories of similarity. These are shown in Table 5 in relation to the number of citing studies per category. The number of citing studies is higher than the sample size ( n  = 55) because there are some studies that uses more than one framework/model. The most cited theoretical framework/model was technology acceptance models which were cited in 41 studies. This is followed by learning theories cited in 11 studies. Social capital theory/innovation diffusion theory is cited in 5 studies; uses and gratification theory/social gratification theory cited in 3 studies; lastly, Information systems success model/communication theory and theory of reasoned action/theory of planned behaviour are only cited in 2 studies, respectively.

Figure  5 shows the use of the main framework(s)/model(s) categories from 2013 to 2021. Figure  5 highlights that studies began citing theory in 2013, with further significant increases identifiable in 2017 and 2020. It also indicates that technology acceptance theories are predominantly the most employed theories in all years, 2020 having the highest publications.

Theoretical frameworks/models over time

The 55 studies were further analysed by study aims which were categorised using the following classification: (1) attitudes of social media as learning tool ( n  = 32); (2) social media as a supportive learning tool ( n  = 16); (3) efficacy of social media as learning tool ( n  = 7). The study aims over time are revealed in Fig.  6 . The results indicate that publications with the aim of investigating attitudes of social media as a learning tool are the most common with 2017 being the most popular year of publication.

Research aims over time

Finally, to represent the empirical relationships among the aims and the theoretical frameworks/models, a word co-occurrence analysis providing a similarity matrix was carried out (Hu et al., 2013 ). A measure of similarity is obtained by counting the co-occurrences (Yang et al., 2012 ), which makes it possible to represent the relationships (conceptual clustering) that exist among the aims and frameworks/models (Chen et al., 2019 ). Direct lines represent connections between the theoretical frameworks/models. Figure  7 indicates that the strongest relationship is presented by studies with the aim to explore attitudes of social media as learning tool by integrating a technology acceptance model. This is followed by information and communication theories being used to explain the efficacy of social media as learning tool. Learning theories are mostly related to studies that are aimed at exploring social media as a supportive learning tool.

Research aims & theoretical frameworks/models network

6 Discussion

The current study has mapped the scientific literature regarding the use of social media in higher education teaching and learning (2009 to 2021). The central aim was to document research trends, dominant terms, and the main characteristics of studies, with a focus on providing a new perspective on the theoretical groundings that may explain the pedagogical integration of social media within higher education teaching and learning.

These results extend the findings of other systematic literature reviews regarding social media use in education-conducted on single or multiple platforms (Lopes et al., 2017 ; Manca, 2020 ; Tang & Hew, 2017 )-and across various disciplinary fields (Barrot, 2021a ; Rehm et al., 2019 ). The main finding indicates a shift from studies focused on Facebook, as the most researched social media platform and its use by students for informal learning, to a more recent trend from 2018 onwards showing studies still focused on attitudes, intentions, and satisfaction of social media as a teaching and learning tool. This is aligned with results from the content analysis which showed that only a minority of studies report the use of theory, and those that do report research aims based on the investigation of attitudes towards social media as a learning tool by integrating a technology acceptance model.

The following sections discuss the three research questions of this study in relation to results concerning both the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool and its pedagogical integration.

6.1 Characteristics of the scientific literature

Overall, the data show a constant growing trend in the number of publications concerned with social media use in teaching and learning, with an increase in two different years (2015 and 2018). This trend confirms a growing interest in the research community regarding the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool (Bodily et al., 2019 ; Valtonen et al., 2022 ). One of the reasons for the rapid growth of research in this field may be related to the relevance of social media platforms in students’ daily lives. We anticipate that further studies will be conducted as new social media uses and applications increases. For example, since its launch in 2017, TikTok has become the fastest growing social media platform worldwide, reaching nearly 83 million monthly active users as of February 2021 (Statista, 2021 ). From an educational perspective, TikTok has proven to be an effective pedagogical tool in corporal expression courses (Escamilla-Fajardo et al., 2021 ) and for political participation and civic engagement (Literat & Kligler-Vilenchik, 2021 ).

In terms of publication venues, Computers & Education , which is an international peer reviewed journal and one of the most prominent journals on the use of technology in education (Arici et al., 2019 ), has published the highest number of papers. The majority of the publications are also international, implying that educational research in social media is pedagogically used in local, regional, or international learning contexts (Barrot, 2021a ).

Geographically, results showed widespread interest across different countries, with more than half of the studies conducted outside of Europe. Whilst Barrot ( 2021a ) has reported that the US was by far the leading country in this field, Manca ( 2020 ) found that most of the research was from the Middle East.

6.2 Dominant terms and research trends

Based on the clusters of terms identified from the analysis of the most used words in abstracts, the platforms that attracted the greatest attention were Facebook and Twitter. In her review, Barrot ( 2021a ) also found that these platforms were the most popular, and suggested that Facebook and Twitter are more likely to be used for teaching and learning as they offer multiple affordances when compared to other less developed/newer platforms.

While the phenomenon of social media remains relatively new to academia research, it has grown in popularity throughout the analysed period. In the initial years, the literature showed evidence of research on the use of social media for informal learning (e.g., Forkosh-Baruch & Hershkovitz, 2012 ) through Facebook (e.g., Hew, 2011 ), and blogs (e.g., Zinger & Sinclair, 2013 ).

In our corpus of literature, the term “social media” starts to flourish from 2016. Many studies with a focus on the use of social media as an educational tool started to be published in that timeframe (e.g., Balakrishnan, 2017 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016a , 2016b ; Sobaih et al., 2016 ). From 2018 to 2021, research trends were more focused on studies about attitudes and satisfaction, confirming trends from earlier studies on attitudes regarding Facebook (e.g., Manca & Ranieri, 2013 , 2016a , 2016b ). Manca and Ranieri ( 2016c ) argued that whilst there was a favourable attitude towards social media use for education, many academics would express a preference for using social media for personal and professional use, rather than for teaching and learning purposes.

6.3 Theoretical frameworks/models and study aims

The third research question examined the studies which had included a theoretical framework/model to explain the integration of social media in learning and teaching. The findings show that only 55 studies out of 772 cited a theoretical framework or model. This result demonstrates a general lack of theoretically based research. This concurs with the findings of Manca et al. ( 2021 ) who concluded that studies that do not integrate learning theory run the risk of superficial understanding of the pedagogical advantages of social media for learning and teaching.

Our findings show that 16 theoretical frameworks/models guided the 55 studies, with the technology acceptance models being the most frequently used. These theoretical frameworks/models were present in 41 studies. Thus, with the overwhelming presence of technology acceptance models, future research should endeavour to adopt other theoretical frameworks/models to verify the results obtained from TAM and its variants. For example, Al-Qaysi et al. ( 2020 ) argued that the development of a theoretical framework that can best examine the integration of social media for learning and teaching can be justified by the use of the uses and gratification theory (Katz, 1959 ) and the social constructivism theory (Wertsch, 1985 ). Furthermore, the use of social media for teaching and learning should be a pedagogical decision and not a technology one (Everson et al., 2013 ). Considering that educational technology research to date has aimed to understand the integration of, and factors affecting, technology use, mainly by employing theories from psychology and information systems, it was found in a recent study by Valtonen et al. ( 2022 ) that the largest amount of educational research targeted how technology can support learning processes based on different learning theories. This is in contrast with our findings which have shown that technology acceptance theories are the most studied frameworks/models in social media for teaching and learning. The reason for this contradiction is that Valtonen et al.’s ( 2022 ) review identified studies with an educational technology focus and not on social media specifically. Indeed, technology research’s history is long, rich and broad (Weller, 2020 ). However, this indicates that the use of socially oriented theories of learning and constructionist tradition within various technology-enhanced contexts and environments is the most common fit to understand technology integration.

Aligned with our findings is the work of Ngai et al. ( 2015 ) and of Chintalapati and Daruri ( 2017 ) who declared that the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is widely used in social media research to explain the acceptance of social media and to measure the factors that influence its adoption.

Our findings also show that the second most employed theoretical framework/models were those related to learning theories. In particular, social constructivism theory was the second most cited approach. These publications peaked from 2017, indicating that the use of learning theories is still in its infancy. Greenhow and Askari ( 2017 ), who assessed the state of social media research in education, found that the major gap in studies was concerned with the link to concrete measures of learning. This finding aligns with an earlier review study that noted increasing interest for social media use, but insufficient empirical support for claims that such technology can be an effective learning tool (Tess, 2013 ). Reflecting on these findings, Greenhow et al. ( 2019 ) suggested that research should focus on practices, outcomes, and learning across different contexts.

As social media is an emerging technology, it is important to continually understand attitudes towards it. Hence, it is not surprising that most of the studies in our analysis were designed to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of students and academics towards the use of social media as a learning and teaching tool. In theory, this is best explained by using an information systems theory such as the TAM (Ngai et al., 2015 ). However, this does not explain best practice when introducing social media as a learning and teaching tool. Many studies in the analysis which cited learning theories used TAM with social constructivism theory to examine collaborative learning and engagement through social media use (Alalwan et al., 2019 ; Alamri et al., 2020b ; Al-Rahmi, et al., 2018 ).

Since Technology acceptance theories are designed to examine teachers’ and students’ readiness to incorporate social media into teaching and learning practices, it is not surprising that they are aligned with attitudes towards social media as a teaching and learning tool. However, it appears that academic research has not much progressed in terms of providing better theoretical strength to pedagogical models and teaching practices.

The second most commonly found research aim in the studies was related to active collaborative learning, student engagement, effective communication and enhancing group performance. This research aim was supported by learning theories. For example, Yu et al. ( 2010 ) investigated student engagement on Facebook from a pedagogical standpoint based on social learning theory. Al-Rahmi et al. ( 2015 ) explored the factors that contribute to the enhancement of collaborative learning and engagement through social media based on the theory of social constructivist learning. This is in line with Churcher et al. ( 2014 ) study who argued that using social constructivist theory has the ability to develop a community of practice, and maximize learning potential.

Lastly, only 7 studies focused on the efficacy of social media as a learning tool which are supported by information and communication theories. For example, Chaka and Govender ( 2020 ) tested the implementation of mobile learning using Facebook as a medium of communication using a combination of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, Information Systems (IS) success model and the educational use of Facebook theory. Al-Rahmi et al. ( 2018 ) investigated the use of social media to encourage sharing knowledge, information, and discussion based on constructivism theory, technology acceptance model, and communication theory.

7 Conclusion and implications

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we aimed to reveal research trends and most commonly used terms of social media for teaching and learning in higher education. The journals that published the most related papers, core scholars working on this field, and the countries in which the related research was based by employing a bibliometric analysis of the research. This analysis suggested that this research field is growing rapidly and evolving. This may be explained by the fact that social media have revolutionized the life of many people and thus attracting much attention.

Second, we employed content analysis to provide a new perspective on the theoretical groundings of the articles in the field. The results showed a lack of theoretical based research in this field, with some evidence of technology acceptance models and learning models as key theories that best explains the integration of social media as a teaching and learning tool.

Although the current study has provided useful insights regarding social media use in teaching and learning, some limitations need to be acknowledged. First, this study was not intended to report, discuss and analyse the findings of each study included in this review. Instead, it aimed to provide some numerical evidence that show the evolving research trends of social media for teaching and learning, as well as the frameworks/models studied and purpose of those focal studies. Second, this study analyses only the articles indexed in the WoS and ERIC database. Therefore, future studies could include articles from Scopus database, book chapters, book reviews, or other publications outside the chosen database. Thirdly, social media research is in its early stages, therefore new studies will continue to surface and continued proliferation of new social media technologies (Ngai et al., 2015 ). More recent social media in education research should be considered in future studies. Finally, future research could explore other research perspectives like research methods and contexts/disciplines.

This paper provides a new perspective on the theoretical groundings in the field of social media as a teaching and learning tool. Several implications can be drawn from this. Firstly, most studies are focused on investigating students and/or instructors’ attitudes towards the use of social media by integrating technology acceptance models. Future studies should focus on “best practice” for integrating social media into pedagogy, tied to student learning outcomes by integrating learning theories. Such studies may also help shape future research on social media integration in formal education, resulting potentially in solutions to educational problems rather than technological ones. Secondly, it was noted that studies employing technology acceptance models may be overwhelming the greater body of literate at present, and therefore any future research should look at post-acceptance studies, such as the impact of usage on learning and/or issues relating to it (such as privacy, security, and trust) (Manca & Ranieri, 2016b ). Finally, this study provided a review of the research landscape on the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool which can be used as a baseline in further advancing the field towards its full maturity.

As interest among scholars increases in using social media for teaching and learning, questions to consider for further research include the following: Can social media that are designed commercial purposes support learners in an educational environment? What does the adoption of social media mean from a theoretical perspective? In this regard, future work should address the pedagogical practices which are suitable for use with social media based on sound theoretical groundings.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Perez, E., Manca, S., Fernández-Pascual, R. et al. A systematic review of social media as a teaching and learning tool in higher education: A theoretical grounding perspective. Educ Inf Technol 28 , 11921–11950 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11647-2

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Social Media and Health Care, Part I: Literature Review of Social Media Use by Health Care Providers

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• PMID: 33664014
• PMCID: PMC8056296
• DOI: 10.2196/23205

Background: As the world continues to advance technologically, social media (SM) is becoming an essential part of billions of people's lives worldwide and is affecting almost every industry imaginable. As the world is becoming more digitally oriented, the health care industry is increasingly visualizing SM as an important channel for health care promotion, employment, recruiting new patients, marketing for health care providers (HCPs), building a better brand name, etc. HCPs are bound to ethical principles toward their colleagues, patients, and the public in the digital world as much as in the real world.

Objective: This review aims to shed light on SM use worldwide and to discuss how it has been used as an essential tool in the health care industry from the perspective of HCPs.

Methods: A literature review was conducted between March and April 2020 using MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science for all English-language medical studies that were published since 2007 and discussed SM use in any form for health care. Studies that were not in English, whose full text was not accessible, or that investigated patients' perspectives were excluded from this part, as were reviews pertaining to ethical and legal considerations in SM use.

Results: The initial search yielded 83 studies. More studies were included from article references, and a total of 158 studies were reviewed. SM uses were best categorized as health promotion, career development or practice promotion, recruitment, professional networking or destressing, medical education, telemedicine, scientific research, influencing health behavior, and public health care issues.

Conclusions: Multidimensional health care, including the pairing of health care with SM and other forms of communication, has been shown to be very successful. Striking the right balance between digital and traditional health care is important.

Keywords: COVID-19; health care; internet; medical education; mobile phone; research activity; social media; social networking; telemedicine.

©Deema Farsi. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.04.2021.

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Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Flowchart of the selection procedure.

Number of included publications per…

Number of included publications per year.

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Understanding Social Media Literacy: A Systematic Review of the Concept and Its Competences

Karina polanco-levicán.

1 Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile; [email protected]

2 Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco 4780000, Chile

Sonia Salvo-Garrido

3 Departamento de Matemática y Estadística, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile

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Nowadays, people spend long periods on social media, ignoring the implications this carries in daily life. In this context, the concept of social media literacy, an emerging concept scarcely developed in the literature, is relevant. This study sought to analyze, descriptively, the main definitions and competences of the concept of social media literacy. The methodology included a systematic search of literature in the databases Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus between 2010 and 2021, applying filters for English and Spanish, including only scientific articles. A total of 1093 articles were obtained. An article selection process took place, applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in a total of 15 articles being selected. The findings indicate that the concept of social media literacy is based on media literacy to then integrate the characteristics and the implications of digital platforms. This is linked to the development of cognitive competences, where critical thinking, socio-emotional competences, and technical competences are fundamental, considering the social context. The development of socio-emotional competences stands out since social media are a frequent place of interaction between people.

1. Introduction

The transformation of society has been linked to technological changes that are an important part of people’s lives [ 1 , 2 ]. Digital technologies are inserted in aspects of social life, in families and relations with others, at work, in governance and political participation, and they generate new ways to shape a community [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. In this sense, social media are widely used by different societies, transcending the geographical borders of territories and cultures, connecting the global to the local [ 6 , 7 ]. Staying on the Internet and social media for extended periods has resulted in media and digital literacy continuing to gain importance [ 1 ].

It is important to specify that social media differ from other types of Internet platforms in that they are characterized by their mass use, they allow content creation, and are not only consumed passively, making it possible for people who do not have formal knowledge about mass media to produce information [ 8 ]. This is even more relevant considering the cross-sectional use of social media by different age groups and that children’s exposure to cell phone screens begins at an early age [ 9 ]. Later, in adolescence they spend extensive periods on social media due to their socializing with their peers [ 10 , 11 ], whereas university students spend an average of 20 h a week on such digital platforms [ 12 ], it has been reported that 98.3% of survey respondents state they use social media [ 13 ]. The opposite would mean being outside a relevant social space [ 14 ]. In the older adult population, there is evidence that they use the technology less other age groups; however, the rates of social Internet use are increasing [ 15 ].

It should be noted that users are exposed to different phenomena on social media, such as publicity, images with a positivity bias, and aggressive and violent behaviors. In addition, the way in which social media operate must be considered as they use technology to filter content based on the users’ previous choice, favoring confirmation bias [ 16 ]. They also offer the opportunity to choose with whom one wishes to interact, enabling the formation of groups or communities with similar characteristics [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], which can foster negativity against what is different, which can be particularly relevant in phenomena such as cyberbullying, which has been linked to time spent on social media [ 20 , 21 ].

Thus, there are also messages on social media that can be potentially harmful when they are about health and personal appearance [ 22 ], considering people’s exposure to advertising and photos shared with positivity biases [ 23 , 24 ]. In this sense, exposure to photos that have been manipulated to achieve a positive appearance is associated with reducing body image and body satisfaction, with the increase in the desire of young women to get cosmetic surgery [ 25 ], depending on the time spent on the Internet [ 23 ].

On the other hand, users can be confronted with demands and difficulties such as the dissemination of false and manipulated news in the post-truth era [ 1 , 26 ], which are produced and put into circulation intentionally to obtain benefits such as more visits by users [ 27 ]. This is combined with people sharing information without a review process for this content since positive feedback from other users prevails; consequently, fake news goes viral very quickly [ 26 ]. People are needed in the role of information consumers; they must develop critical thinking, i.e., a skeptical view of the selection of the news provided through algorithms and the news sources must be tracked [ 4 , 26 ], since discerning veracity or falsity is a responsibility that transcends the individual [ 5 ].

It is important to note that the use of social media is not negative in itself as it can increase social capital, foster friendships and reduce feelings of loneliness; however, it depends on the user’s characteristics and how the different platforms are used [ 28 , 29 ]. As a result, teaching and learning competences for the use of these Internet platforms are particularly relevant since they include social and ethical aspects and technical skills [ 14 ], as well as competences that can assess information that aids in better decision-making [ 30 ].

Media literacy was defined by the Aspen Institute [ 31 ] as “the ability to sensitize, analyze and produce information for specific results” (p. 6), although this conceptualization has certainly undergone progressive transformations, moving from printed information to expression and communication that includes new symbolic forms, such as images and multimedia content. In addition, social media have enabled group collaboration and the dialogue of a large number of people who produce content [ 32 ]. It is worth noting that Hobbs [ 32 ] refers in particular to media literacy and understands it as knowledge, competences, and skills for life that make it possible to participate in today’s society by accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and creating messages in different ways and in different media, being the result of media education. For his part, Buckingham [ 33 ] emphasizes the critical component and the understanding that contents are inserted in a broad context, for example, digital capitalism. The emergence of new types of literacy is linked to the appearance of Internet and mobile communication technologies, which have resulted in the appearance of new media. Considering their impact, this is occurring with technologically based sociocultural platforms [ 34 ].

In the same vein, digital literacy refers to a broad set of competences around the use of digital media, computers, and information and communication technologies (ITC), being understood as part of other forms of literacy, such as computer, Internet, media, and informational literacy [ 35 ]. Currently, efforts are being made by the international community to guarantee digital literacy [ 36 ], because since the COVID-19 pandemic time on the Internet and social media has increased [ 37 ]. It is important to mention that digital literacy has been proposed as a strategy against social inequality, given the connection between technological exclusion and wider forms of economic and social exclusion [ 38 ], because people have fewer opportunities to develop skills due to their limited Internet connection, thereby reducing participation levels [ 39 ]. Another relevant element is that it is linked to socio-economic disadvantage with a lack of knowledge about the algorithms that these types of platforms use to recommend content [ 40 ].

Literacy in traditional and digital media is central given that we live permanently receiving messages from different sources [ 41 ]. Generally, these are focused on improving people’s competences to integrate and operate in today’s society [ 42 ]. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the development of skills such as critical thinking because even though teenagers and young adults have known the world with the Internet, they do not have better developed skills in all the areas that digital literacy addresses [ 43 ]. Nevertheless, according to Leaning [ 35 ], the difficulty arises because media literacy does not sufficiently address digital technology, considering that digital literacy does not fully develop a critical approach compared to media literacy. However, it is relevant to point out that the boundaries between the types of literacy can be blurred; in addition, other proposals progressively emerge that link different approaches such as critical digital literacy, rendering the desired distinctions complex [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].

In this sense, due to their mass use, social media have transformed the way we relate to each other, form communities, and use mass media. This has been of interest, with proposals on the issue of literacy being generated that focus particularly on these digital platforms. Therefore, Livingstone [ 47 ] indicates the need for literacy focused on social media to update the analysis of media literacy. Nevertheless, this concept has limited theoretical development and little operationalization [ 7 , 48 ]. In addition, there is evidence that authors define it differently; it has not been clearly established what the competences are that are included in this type of literacy given the authors working with this concept in their research.

In light of the above, this article focuses on social media literacy by performing a systematic literature review to better understand the concept in terms of the competences it provides that adequately guide efforts in the direction of teaching and learning processes in this area. The relevance of these processes must be borne in mind due to the mass use of such platforms and their use by people of different ages for extended periods, considering there are dangers in social media while at the same time they afford possibilities for interaction, entertainment, and other options that can be useful with an adequate understanding of how social media work and how to make use of them. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze, descriptively, the main definitions and competences of the concept of social media literacy.

2. Materials and Methods

A systematic search of the literature was done, considering the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) [ 49 ], in the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases in July 2021. The question that guided the search strategy was: what are the competences that must be developed to operate on social media? The search took place using free terms and terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) including social media, social media sites, digital literacy, media literacy, and social media literacy. The filters were: language (English and Spanish), number of years (from 2010 to date), and article type (article). With respect to the total articles ( n = 1039), they were first selected by relevant title, second, by relevant abstract. Then, the articles were reviewed in full ( n = 59), and the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, resulting in 15 articles ( Figure 1 ).

Systematic review flowchart (Adapted from Page et al., 2020 [ 49 ]).

2.1. Criteria for Eligibility

Inclusion criteria: Articles were selected that proposed a conceptual definition of social media literacy and/or that demonstrated the competences that integrate this concept. Articles were included where the participants were children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and families. Only scientific articles, theoretical and empirical, in English and Spanish between 2010 and 2021 were included.

Exclusion criteria: Articles that address social media from digital literacy without specifically considering the scope of social media literacy were not included, since they do not define the concept, nor do they refer to the competences that social media literacy encompasses. In addition, articles that address digital platforms but do not consider social media were not included. Theses, conference proceedings, and systematic reviews were not included. Articles in languages other than English or Spanish or with a publication date before 2010 were also excluded.

2.2. Procedure

Articles were selected considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The articles also had to provide information that responded to the research question; therefore, those articles that did not fit as previously indicated were eliminated. Where questions or disagreements arose about the selected articles, they were resolved through the joint review by the two authors to determine their relevance and to make a decision about their inclusion.

In terms of biases of this study, the language bias was countered by including articles in Spanish and English. In terms of coverage bias, the different databases (Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed) were reviewed.

2.3. Analysis Strategy

With respect to the selection final, the articles were read and reviewed completely, observing if the records provided a conceptual definition of social media literacy or if they reported on the skills that this type of literacy includes. The other criteria of inclusion and exclusion were also considered. The standard quality assessment criteria for evaluating primary research papers were also applied [ 50 ].

Later, a table was constructed to present the studies, considering first the authors, type of study, objective, and information on the sample. Then, the main results were transformed in relation to the research question to report on the studies selected and to organize the findings of this study.

In relation to the biases present in articles, generally the records describe full data in their results; moreover, the results were reported according to the analyses used, considering that this is of interest to this review.

Fifteen articles were obtained for analysis from the following countries: Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it being observed that interest in the concept of social media literacy is concentrated mainly in European countries that develop and contribute theoretical and empirical evidence relating to this concept ( Table A1 in Appendix A ).

3.1. Social Media Literacy: Definition

The conceptualization of social media literacy is based on media literacy [ 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. However, it is emphasized that social media are oriented to the interpersonal communication that arises from the human need to establish interactions with others [ 48 , 52 , 53 ]. Thus, according to Vanwynsbergue [ 56 ], the focus would be on favoring the efficiency and efficacy of Internet communication, benefitting social relations ( Table A1 in Appendix A ).

On the other hand, the understanding of the particular characteristics of such platforms is worth noting, in that it is relevant how the information is presented on social media, considering the objectives after posts by both people and advertising, in addition to positivity bias [ 51 , 53 , 54 ]. Consequently, social media literacy is oriented towards the prevention of risks such as mental and physical health problems [ 51 , 53 ], as well as other types of consequences that can arise from interactions between people, for example cyberbullying, information spreading, and other difficulties [ 52 , 53 , 55 ].

3.2. Social Media Literacy: Competences

With respect to the different competences that encompass social media literacy according to the different studies, there is evidence that cognitive competences appear cross-sectionally in most of the studies searched. These include understanding, analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and the interpretation of the information, added to the assessment of the motive, purpose, realism, and credibility of the publication. Critical thinking is considered fundamental due to the large volume of information to which social media users are exposed [ 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. In addition, according to Schreurs and Vandenbosch [ 54 ], cognitive competences include a knowledge of traditional media literacy and the dynamics of interpersonal communication on social media ( Table A1 in Appendix A ).

Similarly, user-generated information requires that they have knowledge of the implications of sharing personal data and the generation of information considering the digital fingerprint, since this information is used by the social media platforms and shared with other companies, so the user must evaluate what content to share [ 62 ]. Likewise, Tandoc et al. [ 63 ] report on the need to raise awareness about the content recommendation algorithms that transform the social media experience.

The technical or practical competences include the ability to create, review, organize and share contents [ 57 , 58 ], access, find information and use functions such as privacy settings [ 62 ], create social media accounts and publish photos and images, and make videos and memes [ 60 , 63 ]. These competences fulfill an important role so people of different ages can perform adequately on these digital platforms [ 51 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ].

On the other hand, the socio-emotional competences are integrated by several authors into the conceptualization of social media literacy because such digital platforms are oriented to the interaction between different people who share content online; therefore, management strategies for interpersonal communications are relevant [ 48 , 51 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 63 ]. Festl [ 48 ] proposes that the development of social competences is central to social media literacy including participation and moral, communicative, and education competences, consistent with other studies that lend relevance to motivation, attitude, and behavior that people on social media exhibit [ 55 , 56 ]. In addition, Schreurs and Vandenbosch [ 54 ] note that effective competences are reflected in the use of adaptive strategies when users are exposed to difficulties on social media, as indicated in Appendix A ( Table A1 ).

The proposals of authors that consider the relevance of the context in which social interactions occur as well as the language used on social media are worthy of note. Specifically, the differences between the different digital platforms must be taken into account since they have particular ways of operating [ 55 ]. Moreover, the sociocultural pragmatics in the different social media must be borne in mind, i.e., changes in the users’ language, relations, and behavior depending on the different social and cultural contexts that take place on the Internet [ 57 ]. This would make it possible to assess the context that could help discern veracity of the information [ 60 ], considering the increase in fake news [ 63 ].

4. Discussion

The objective of this study was to analyze descriptively the main definitions and competences of the concept of social media literacy. The results yielded 15 studies ( Table A1 in Appendix A ) that address social media literacy by either conceptualizing it, or by referring to the competences of which it consists. It should be noted that there are studies that, despite using the concept in their articles, do not develop it, or they use it to talk about another type of literacy without making a suitable distinction on the issue [ 22 , 64 , 65 ].

In relation to the findings of this study, the construction of the concept of social media literacy is based on the knowledge gained through media literacy, to then integrate elements focused on catching the particularities, characteristics, and implications of social media. In this context, it is fundamental to consider the social interactions produced on social media, the possibility of users creating content, the large amount of information that circulates on social media that includes user content and publicity from businesses, as well as the content filtering and recommendation technology. In the same vein, it is suggested that the concept of social media literacy could respond to the requirements of today’s society due to the mass and recurring use of these types of virtual platforms worldwide [ 47 , 48 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ].

Consequently, social media literacy is an update of media literacy [ 47 ], being oriented to favoring people being able to perform adequately on social media considering the various difficulties that can arise. Without a doubt, the phenomena that occur on social media are not all negative, rather these digital platforms have benefits that could be taken advantage of better if users have greater knowledge and competences [ 28 ]. Thus, access to the benefits or opportunities that social media afford, such as the possibility of sharing with friends and relatives, should be promoted, but with strategies to protect against damaging trends or risky behaviors [ 54 ].

Generally, the analyzed studies converge in the relevance of cognitive competences in social media literacy. It is worth noting the development of critical thinking because most studies mention it being necessary to obtain a suitable understanding and assessment of the content, being aware of the reliability and credibility of the information [ 55 , 56 , 60 ], reducing the persuasive influence of mass media through the evaluation of the intention and realism of the content [ 53 , 61 ]. This is not an easy task due to the large volume of information and the anonymity of those who produce the content on social media [ 57 ]. In this sense, the knowledge about the algorithms with which social media work acquires relevance, presenting information to the user according to their fingerprint [ 40 ].

As Livingstone [ 52 ] points out, social media literacy is at the intersection between social and mass media, so that the relevance of socio-emotional competences stands out. The social interactions that take place between users in real time or delay time are one of the characteristics that distinguishes social media from other types of digital platforms or mass media; therefore, different authors have focused on the socio-emotional competences to conceptualize and operationalize the construct [ 48 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. In this way, such competences can be considered a protective factor against cybervictimization [ 66 ], and a greater prosocial behavior in Internet activities is implied [ 67 ], since there are adaptive strategies against negative experiences [ 54 ].

With respect to the technical or practical competences, there is evidence that among these are the ability to access, create, review, and share content on social media, adding other functions such as those linked to privacy settings. These competences are considered in a general way; however, social media platforms are different from each other, which is why it is relevant to consider those specific skills that could help people to perform adequately on the different social media. Coincidently, Manca et al. [ 7 ] refers to a higher skill level that can be cross-sectional on the different social media and skills specific to each digital platform.

Likewise, studies have shown the relevance of the context in which the content is generated in order to assess its construction [ 55 , 57 , 60 ]. Then, the specific platform can be considered, the context in which differences in the language used and the forms of interaction between users are reflected. On the other hand, it is important to place social media within a broader social and economic context such as digital capitalism [ 33 ], being aware of the objectives of the social media companies such as generating profits [ 68 ], transforming the private experience into merchandise [ 69 ].

Another finding of this study is the different areas in which studies are being conducted that involve this concept. On the one hand, evidence shows that different authors work with this concept applied to the area of physical and mental health related to body perception [ 51 , 53 , 61 , 70 ], developing interventions to reduce eating disorders and the negative impact of exposure to social media because they show idealized appearances, such that social media literacy is considered a protective factor [ 24 , 61 ]. Meanwhile, another group of authors focuses on research with children and adolescents due to the continuous use of social media as a result of their need to establish relations with their peers and how their families mediate the use of digital platforms [ 48 , 52 , 54 , 58 ]. Consequently, the development of competences by teenagers is fundamental for them to operate suitably on social media, considering that parents show deficiencies in technical competences and knowledge of social media because they use them less or they use digital platforms passively [ 54 , 58 ].

Finally, the relevance of the analysis and the assessment of news content on social media to determine its veracity stands out in the current context [ 5 , 26 , 60 , 63 ]. In this sense, the contribution of social media literacy is significant since it considers aspects of such platforms, because when sharing information, it prioritizes the expectation of positive feedback from other users, or that the content supports one’s personal beliefs and values.

5. Conclusions

This systematic review collaborated in the understanding of the construct of social media literacy in its definition and the skills that integrate it, being considered an area of emerging research and that its development is very necessary due to people staying on social media specifically for extended periods. Social media literacy is focused on the development of different abilities that range from the technical to the socio-emotional. In this sense, social media, by making possible and favoring social interactions, bring with them requirements for people to perform adequately on digital platforms, understanding that there is no separation between the digital plane and the physical plane; therefore, a mutual influence is produced that could affect people’s experience by being exposed to the dangers on social media that worsen without the skills to deal with such situations.

On the other hand, the social, economic, cultural, and political context is integrated into the analysis conducted on social media given that such platforms have product advertising, political announcements, and other situations to which social media users are exposed. At the same time, the social media differ from each other, so it is relevant to visualize the characteristics of each of them and their differences, noting they each have their own culture that is reflected in the language, behavior, and interactions generated.

In terms of the limitations of this study, it should be noted that there may be articles that were not detected in the systematic search, or that were not selected for the analysis considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study because the authors used concepts linked to media and digital literacy to refer to the concept of social media literacy. Other databases could be added to verify whether there are new articles and integrate them into the results, contributing to different research questions. Similarly, other types of articles such as systematic reviews or conference proceedings could be added since they were excluded here. With respect to the future lines of investigation, studies must be generated considering the construct of social media literacy and its relation to other constructs such as cyberbullying and cyberaggression as the dangers of social media are considered, making it possible to observe which competences that make up social media literacy are those that would mainly protect against these dangers. In addition, it would be interesting to identify the relations with constructs that reflect if social media literacy facilitate the opportunities that such platforms offer. Finally, other studies could broaden the inclusion criteria by incorporating articles that address social media literacy, although the authors have used other broader concepts or approaches in their research. This way, future studies could analyze and evaluate which of the different literacies that focus on social media obtain the best results.

Concept and competences of Social Media Literacy.

Funding Statement

K.P.-L. received financial support by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/Scholarship Program/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2020-21200712.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; methodology, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; formal analysis, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; investigation, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; data curation, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; writing—original draft preparation, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; writing—review and editing, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; supervision, K.P.-L. and S.S.-G.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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2. Writing a Literature Review

Objective: To help draft a literature review on the effects of social media on academic performance.

Prompt Example: 

Summarise key findings from recent studies (post-2018) on the topic. 

Compare and contrast different methodologies used in these studies. 

Highlight gaps in the current research that could be explored further. 

Ensure the review is structured with an introduction, main body, and conclusion. 

Use formal academic language and cite sources in Harvard referencing style. 

Audience: Second-year undergraduate students in psychology. 

Expected Outcome: A draft literature review of approximately 500 words with a synthesis of recent research findings, a critical comparison of methodologies, and identification of research gaps, all presented in a coherent and scholarly manner. 

Example User Query: 

Draft a 500-word literature review on the effects of social media on academic performance. The review should cover the following points: 

Summarise recent studies from 2018 onwards on this topic. 

Compare and contrast the methodologies used in these studies. 

Identify and discuss gaps in the current research that could be further explored. 

Please structure the review with an introduction, main body, and conclusion, using formal academic language. Make sure to cite the sources using Harvard referencing style. 

The target audience for this review is second-year undergraduate students in psychology.  

ELM’s Response: 

Introduction 

The ubiquity of social media in contemporary society has sparked a growing body of research examining its effects on various aspects of life, including academic performance. This literature review aims to synthesise findings from recent studies (2018-present) on the impact of social media usage on academic performance. By comparing methodologies and identifying research gaps, this review seeks to provide a holistic understanding of the current academic discourse on this topic. 

Summarising Recent Studies 

Several recent studies have explored the connection between social media use and academic performance with varied findings. Wang and Xing (2018) conducted a survey-based study with university students in China, revealing a negative correlation between time spent on social media and academic grades. Similarly, a study by Kirschner and Karpinski (2020) in the United States found that students who used social media excessively had lower GPAs compared to their peers who used it less frequently. 

Conversely, some studies report more nuanced outcomes. A longitudinal study by Al-Menayes (2019) found that while overall social media use did correlate with lower academic performance, this effect was moderated by the type of social media engagement — with academic-related use proving beneficial. Similarly, Cho et al. (2021) highlighted that the impact of social media on academic performance is not straightforward but contingent on factors such as the nature of use (active vs. passive) and individual differences in self-regulation. 

Comparing and Contrasting Methodologies 

The methodologies employed in these studies vary significantly, influencing the robustness and generalisability of their findings. Cross-sectional surveys, as used by Wang and Xing (2018) and Kirschner and Karpinski (2020), provide quick snapshots but are limited by their inability to infer causality. These studies typically rely on self-reported data, which may be subject to biases such as social desirability or inaccurate recall. 

In contrast, longitudinal studies like that of Al-Menayes (2019) offer stronger evidence for causal relationships by tracking changes over time. However, they require more resources and time, and their findings can be influenced by external variables that change during the study period. Experimental designs, though less common in this field, could provide more definitive insights by controlling for extraneous variables, as suggested by Nowak and Gao (2022), who implemented a controlled experiment to isolate the effects of social media on academic tasks. 

Identifying Research Gaps 

Despite the valuable insights provided by recent research, several gaps remain. Firstly, there is a need for more experimental studies to establish causality more definitively and eliminate confounding variables. Additionally, much of the existing research focuses on Western or East Asian contexts, with limited exploration in other cultural settings. This geographical bias suggests a need for cross-cultural studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. 

Furthermore, while some studies have begun to distinguish between different types of social media use, there remains a lack of granular investigation into the distinct effects of specific platforms. Kim and Venditti (2023) suggest that the varying functionalities and user interactions on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn might differentially impact academic performance. 

Conclusion 

The existing literature offers valuable insights into the relationship between social media usage and academic performance, revealing both negative and context-dependent effects. Nevertheless, the methodological diversity and geographical concentration of studies highlight the need for further research, particularly experimental and cross-cultural inquiries, as well as platform-specific analyses. Addressing these gaps will enrich the understanding of how social media impacts academic outcomes and guide the development of effective educational strategies and policies. 

References 

Al-Menayes, J. J. (2019). ‘The relationship between social media use and academic performance in university students’ Global Media Journal, 17(33), pp. 1-11. 

Cho, J., Kim, S., Lee, W. & Kim, S. (2021). ‘The moderating effect of self-control on the relationship between social media use and academic performance’ Computers in Human Behaviour, 123, p. 106873. 

Kim, H. & Venditti, D. (2023). ‘Differentiated impacts of social media platforms on academic performance: An exploratory study’ Journal of Educational Technology, 45(2), pp. 200-214. 

Kirschner, P. A., & Karpinski, A. C. (2020). ‘Facebook and academic performance’ Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), pp. 1237-1245. 

Nowak, G., & Gao, L. (2022). ‘Experimental study on social media and student learning outcomes’ Journal of Experimental Education, 90(3), pp. 512-529. 

Wang, Q. & Xing, Q. (2018). ‘The impact of social media on academic performance: Evidence from Chinese university students’ International Journal of Educational Research, 95, pp. 1-9. 

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