Learning from E-government: An Agenda for Social Media Research in IS

As the body of Information Systems (IS) research on social media grows, it faces increasing challenges of staying relevant to real world contexts. In this research-in-progress paper, we analyze and contrast research on social media in the e-government field and in IS research, by reviewing and categorizing 63 studies published in key journal outlets, in order to identify and complement research foci and gaps. We find that in comparison with e-government social media research, IS studies tend to adopt an abstract view of the individual user, focus on a monetary view of value added by social media, and overlook the role of contextual factors. We thus propose an extended framework for mapping social media research, by including a focus on the role of context and environment, and identify a research agenda for future studies on social media-related phenomena relevant to real world contexts.