A Thematic Review on Digital Storytelling (DST) in Social Media

Digital Storytelling (DST) is defined as telling stories using digital means. It has been initially applied for diverse purposes, including in community development, therapeutic benefits, and as an aid in teaching and learning. DST has recently been broadly used on social media platforms for marketing, running campaigns, journalism, and much more. However, no comprehensive systematic or thematic review of DST in social media has been conducted. Accordingly, this paper aims to provide a thematic review of DST in social media. The thematic review was carried out on 50 articles published from 2016 to 2021. These 50 discrete studies were selected because they met the inclusion criteria based on the research question of this review. The thematic review used ATLAS.ti as a tool to assist the review process. The results indicated that DST in social media was appropriate for marketing, including branding and advertising. Besides, using DST in social media over the years for education, training, professional development, community development and services, running campaigns, and therapy has significantly impacted these areas. Across the research articles, including case studies and essays, authors have reported several benefits of using DST in social media.