The proliferation of digital data has opened the door for a 21st-century social science that explores human relationships on an unprecedented scale. A particular area of interest is that of leader social media (SM) usage. As studies on leader SM usage have grown dramatically in the past several years, we take stock of the extant literature across various research disciplines. Within this manuscript, we contextualize leader SM usage and demonstrate how it compares to analogous concepts. We subsequently abridge relevant findings and reflect on methodological and theoretical components of the research studies identified in this review. Further, we outline the nature of SM data and provide practical recommendations for leadership scholars to capitalize on this rich data source in their investigations. We also offer a theoretical framework and summary of how scholars have studied leader SM usage. Specifically, this review article synthesizes the current literature while also elevating the academic rigor of leader SM research.

数字数据的扩散为 21 世纪以前所未有的规模探索人类关系的社会科学打开了大门。一个特别感兴趣的领域是领导者社交媒体 (SM) 的使用。随着过去几年对领导者 SM 使用的研究急剧增加，我们对各个研究学科的现有文献进行了评估。在这份手稿中，我们将领导 SM 的使用置于上下文中，并展示了它与类似概念的比较。我们随后删减了相关发现并反思了本综述中确定的研究的方法和理论组成部分。此外，我们概述了 SM 数据的性质，并为领导学者提供实用建议，以在他们的调查中利用这一丰富的数据源。我们还提供了学者如何研究领导者 SM 使用的理论框架和总结。具体来说，这篇评论文章综合了当前的文献，同时也提升了领导者 SM 研究的学术严谨性。