Social Media Recruitment in Online Survey Research: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The growing percentage of the population on social media creates new and expanded op­portunities for survey researchers. Recently, a growing number of studies have been using social media to recruit survey respondents. Many social media platforms have powerful targeting capabilities that can be used to recruit even rare or hard-to-reach populations. However, thus far, the survey research literature lacks a comprehensive overview of poten­tials and limitations. This literature review aims 1) to provide an overview of the current literature on the use of social media as a recruitment tool, 2) to highlight the potential advantages and disadvantages for survey research, 3) to identify current research gaps, and finally, 4) to provide practical guidance for researchers interested in integrating social media recruitment into their research.