Analyzing social influence through social media: a structured literature review

The emergence of social media enables billions of people to share their content and in doing so they influence others and are being influenced themselves. This virtual environment provides a new perspective for the current social influence theories. In this study, the state-of-the-art literature on social influence through social media is reviewed. We find that social influence metrics, influence maximization, mobilization, Word-Of-Mouth and Online Reputation Management are important trends in this field of research. Social influence is shown to have a big impact in social media, but the best way to measure, maximize and coordinate this influence is still to be found. Building on the analyzed literature, we present the Online Social Influence Model, which shows the steps that are necessary to manage social influence through social media. The current study can be valuable to both researchers and practitioners, by providing a starting point for further research and identifying opportunities to improve marketing practices.