The impact of social media in business growth and performance: A scientometrics analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the status and the evolution of the scientific studies on the applications of social media in the business. The present research is an applied scientific method based on quantitative approach by using library method and scientometrics indicators. With the use of bibliometric library of R software, scientific products in the field of social media applications in business from 2005 to the end of January 2019, the study overviews trends and achievements of this field. The results show that from the beginning of 2005 through January 2019, 2682 articles have been indexed in Web of Science in the field of social media and business; however, since 2009, scientific productions in this topic have grown rapidly and in 2017, there was a substantial increase in the number of studies. The findings also show that the United States with 1269 published articles and the Business Horizons Magazine with the publication of 73 articles, pioneered in the publications of this topic. Analyzing the content of the works produced in the applications of the social media and businesses can help us better understand the growth trend in this area.