Social media usage by higher education academics: A scoping review of the literature

Despite extensive proliferation of social media in different domains, higher education academics’ use of social media remains unclear. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by providing a scoping review, covering the last five years of extant literature. It compiles and analyses previous empirical studies concerning academics’ usage of social media, the benefits of social media for academics, and the challenges and barriers that academics face when using or considering using social media. The review of twenty-four published articles shows that not all academics currently use social media and those who do, tend to use it for research dissemination and personal reasons, mostly career and network development. Many academics do not use social media for teaching, mostly due to a lack of awareness, skill and confidence in using this emerging technology. Despite this limited use of social media by academics, social media provides clear benefits for career development, research and teaching, including: improved communication with various stakeholders, increased opportunities and contacts, and increased student learning and satisfaction. This review is intended as a timely introduction to current thinking about the usage of social media by higher education academics globally. By outlining the status quo in this under-researched field, it informs and becomes a useful basis for further research and highlights the need for academics to become more aware of, and accustomed to, using social media in their professional lives, not only for research and career development purposes, but – most importantly – also for learning and teaching.