Social media use and social well-being: a systematic review and future research agenda
ISSN: 1468-4527
Article publication date: 29 January 2024
Issue publication date: 8 August 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of the existing literature on social media (SM) use and examine its relationship with various facets of social well-being (SWB).
Design/methodology/approach
The study identifies and selects relevant articles using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, wherein 273 articles were identified using the keyword search criteria from 5 databases namely Web of Science, Emerald, Pubmed, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost, and finally, 20 relevant studies were included for this systematic review. In order to provide directions for future research, a thorough profile with the key findings and knowledge gaps is presented.
Findings
The majority of the reviewed studies report an increase in the use of SM, especially amongst adolescents, and this suggests a seriously detrimental impact on their SWB in terms of cyberbullying, lifestyle comparison and impact on self-esteem, substance abuse, declined academic performance, fear of missing out (FoMo) and social overload. However, some of the studies reported life satisfaction, a reduction in loneliness and improved social support and belongingness, particularly those focussing on old age people who experience social isolation. The review also affirmed improved job performance and employees’ well-being. These findings vary across various demographic variables and various SM platforms namely Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, YouTube, etc.
Originality/value
The findings have significant implications for SM researchers, family members and educators concerning promoting appropriate SM use, especially in terms of their SWB. The study also provides various suggestions for future studies and the need to further explore the topic as the field of SM use and SWB is ever-growing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The Authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for providing their suggestions in improving the quality of the paper.
Since submission of this article, the following author have updated their affiliations: Krishna Murari is at the Department of Management Studies, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University), Lucknow, India.
The authors namely Dr. Krishna Murari (Project Director) & Dr. Shalini Shukla (Co-Project Director) are the awardee of ICSSR Major Research Project. This review paper is largely an outcome of the Research Project sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, India.
Citation
Murari, K., Shukla, S. and Dulal, L. (2024), "Social media use and social well-being: a systematic review and future research agenda", Online Information Review, Vol. 48 No. 5, pp. 959-982. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-11-2022-0608
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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