Gang literature increasingly reflects the importance of social media in gang lifestyle, as gang members adopt new communicative practices. Yet, because of the multifaceted nature of online gang activity and the diversity of methodologies employed, a general overview of research outcomes is not easily achieved. This article seeks to remedy this by analysing academic studies of gang use of social media. A systematic literature review was conducted in Scopus and Google Scholar databases, which led to the identification of 73 publications. We then undertook a content analysis of each publication using an exhaustive evaluation model, comprising 20 variables and 71 categories. A bibliometric analysis was also performed to determine the structural characteristics of the research community that generates these publications. Our results point to an emerging universe of publications with different themes, methods, samples and ethical protocols. The challenges, risks and recommendations for future social media research with youth street groups are identified.

随着帮派成员采用新的交流方式，帮派文学越来越反映出社交媒体在帮派生活方式中的重要性。然而，由于在线帮派活动的多面性和所采用的方法的多样性，对研究成果的总体概述并不容易实现。本文旨在通过分析有关帮派使用社交媒体的学术研究来对此进行补救。在Scopus和Google Scholar数据库中进行了系统的文献综述，最终鉴定出73种出版物。然后，我们使用详尽的评估模型对每个出版物进行了内容分析，该模型包括20个变量和71个类别。还进行了文献计量分析，以确定产生这些出版物的研究团体的结构特征。我们的结果表明，出现了主题，方法，样本和道德规范不同的出版物。确定了与青年街头群体进行未来社交媒体研究的挑战，风险和建议。