Bibliometric analysis of literature on social media trends during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Purpose
This study employs bibliometric analysis to map the research landscape of social media trending topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors aim to offer a comprehensive review of the predominant research organisations and countries, key themes and favoured research methodologies pertinent to this subject.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors extracted data on social media trending topics from the Web of Science Core Collection database, spanning from 2009 to 2022. A total of 1,504 publications were subjected to bibliometric analysis, utilising the VOSviewer tool. The study analytical process encompassed co-occurrence, co-authorship, citation analysis, field mapping, bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis.
Findings
Interest in social media research, particularly on trending topics during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains high despite signs of the pandemic stabilising globally. The study predominantly addresses misinformation and public health communication, with notable focus on interactions between governments and the public. Recent studies have concentrated on analysing Twitter user data through text mining, sentiment analysis and topic modelling. The authors also identify key leading organisations, countries and journals that are central to this research area.
Originality/value
Diverging from the narrow focus of previous literature reviews on social media, which are often confined to particular fields or sectors, this study offers a broad view of social media's role, emphasising trending topics. The authors demonstrate a significant link between social media trends and public events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper discusses research priorities that emerged during the pandemic and outlines potential methodologies for future studies, advocating for a greater emphasis on qualitative approaches.
Peer review
The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2023-0194.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors like to extend their gratitude to the editors and reviewers for their time and effort in reviewing this manuscript. Their constructive feedback and suggestions have significantly improved the quality of the work. The authors would like to thank Editage for providing English language editorial assistance, their contributions have been greatly appreciated.
Citation
Xin, R. and Lim, Y.J. (2023), "Bibliometric analysis of literature on social media trends during the COVID-19 pandemic", Online Information Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2023-0194
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited