Social Media, Empowerment Theory, and Employee Productivity: A Systematic Review

Social media use presents opportunities that foster productivity in organizations. This productivity can be derived from the prism of empowerment theory (structural and psychological), since organizations urgently need social media platforms to stay updated with shifting potentials, trends, and expectations, eventually affecting employee productivity. Drawing upon this theory, the current study looks at how employees are empowered by social media use. Yet, social media presents several issues for firms, such as disrupting employee productivity. This systematic literature review aims to identify the moderating and mediating elements influencing the relationship between social media use, empowerment theory, and employee productivity. An updated overview of earlier empirical research is needed, considering an overarching digitalization. This study reviews empirical research systematically on social media, empowerment theory, and employee productivity between 2010 to 2024, its significance, focus, and the research methodologies utilized. Using a data-driven convergent analysis design adhering to PRISMA reporting standards, the study integrated descriptive synthesis with narrative synthesis of the textual data. Out of 2,130 studies, 1,991 analyzed studies were kept after the criteria for inclusion and exclusion were applied. This review offers a broad overview of the study and the disconnected gaps that still necessitate attention. The study concluded that social media has emerged as a popular means of communication for employees to interact and share knowledge. Through the review and analysis of prior research, the majority of studies proved that social media use increases both individual and corporate productivity. In addition to providing practitioners with advice and ideas on how to model and manage social media use, it advances systematic knowledge progress in the field. Despite growing research, there remains insufficient evidence and theory, and an adverse influence of social media at work. Most studies report their results using longitudinal data and cannot explicate the underlying moderating and mediating components that influence employee productivity in the workplace. As a result, this review adds to the body of knowledge and provides a foundation for further research aimed at establishing the underlying moderating and mediating components that influence social media use and employee productivity. Consequently, a model framework was presented in this review as a means of addressing the causal moderating and mediating components outcomes.