Exploring the Role of Social Media in Knowledge Management for SMEs: A Comprehensive Literature Review

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Social Media; Knowledge Management; Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs); Knowledge Sharing; Digital Transformation

Abstract

In the digital age, social media has emerged as a transformative tool for knowledge management (KM) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, despite its growing adoption, SMEs face significant challenges in effectively leveraging social media for KM, including knowledge security concerns, misinformation, difficulties in measuring its impact, and sector-specific barriers to adoption. Furthermore, existing research remains fragmented, with limited cross-industry comparisons of how SMEs utilize social media for KM. This study aims to review the existing literature to explore the role of social media as a KM tool, assess its benefits and challenges, and compare its adoption across different SME industries. Employing an AI-assisted literature review (AILR) using Scopus AI, this study systematically identifies, synthesizes, and analyzes scholarly research on social media-based KM in SMEs. The findings suggest that social media enhances KM by fostering real-time collaboration, open knowledge sharing, and digital knowledge storage. However, adoption patterns differ across industries—technology SMEs prioritize innovation and collaboration, manufacturing SMEs focus on process documentation, and healthcare SMEs emphasize secure knowledge sharing due to regulatory constraints. The study contributes to KM theories by demonstrating how social media facilitates knowledge creation and exchange. Practically, the findings offer insights for SME leaders and policymakers on optimizing social media strategies for KM while addressing security risks and misinformation. Future research should focus on empirical validation, cross-cultural studies, and ethical considerations in social media-driven KM to enhance SMEs’ competitive advantage in the knowledge economy.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zuraidah Arif
AU  - Abd Latif Abdul Rahman
AU  - Sharunizam Shari
AU  - Noryana Ahmad Khusaini
AU  - Zati Atiqah Mohamad Tanuri
AU  - Ahmad Sufi Alawi Idris
AU  - Azyyati Anuar
AU  - Moh. Safii
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/08/22
TI  - Exploring the Role of Social Media in Knowledge Management for SMEs: A Comprehensive Literature Review
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Business, Finance, Management and Economic (BizFAME 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 262
EP  - 282
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-827-1_18
ID  - Arif2025
ER  -