As the body of Information Systems (IS) research on social media grows, it faces
increasing challenges of staying relevant to real world contexts. We analyze and
contrast research on social media in the e-government field and in IS research, by
reviewing and categorizing 63 studies published in key journal outlets, in order to
identify and complement research foci and gaps. We find that, in comparison with egovernment
social media research, IS studies tend to adopt an abstract view of the
individual user, focus on a monetary view of value added by social media, and overlook
the role of contextual factors. We thus propose an extended framework for mapping
social media research, by including a focus on the role of context and environment, and
identify a research agenda for future studies on social media-related phenomena
relevant to real world contexts.