A systematic literature review on the social affordances of social media for informal learning environments

Abstract

Social media becomes a mediator in an informal learning environment where learners are responsible for their own learning activities. Many studies acknowledge that informal learners tend to use social media as a learning tool in modern times, but social media was not created with this purpose in mind. This study therefore aims to review and analyse the literature on social media and informal learning from an information system (IS) perspective to identify the social affordances. The study is based on e English publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences from 2010 to 2020. 136 papers in the field of social media and informal learning have been analysed. Thematic analysis has been used to identify the social affordances. Social affordances of social media that have been identified can help learners to evaluate the success of their informal learning via social media, while learners who are currently not engaged in social media can gain a better understanding of how to utilize social media platforms to enhance their informal learning. This review contributes to the growing field of research on the role of affordance in social media and informal learning fields.