Social Networking Site Use and Adolescents Empathic Skills: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract Empathy, the ability to share and understand others’ emotional and mental states, is essential for socioemotional functioning. In adolescence, its development is significantly affected by the social environment. Despite a growing body of research on the effects of increasing social networking site use in adolescence on mental health, relatively little is known about its effects on social skills such as empathy. This systematic review examines the existing literature on the influence of social networking site use on empathy skills in adolescents. The search across eight databases yielded 2,413 results, of which 33 studies were found eligible and included in the analysis. Findings indicate that specific types of use, particularly those classified as problematic or excessive, rather than the mere duration or frequency of use are associated with lower levels of empathy. Assumed moderating effects of personality, media richness, and gender were only examined in a few studies and could not be confirmed based on the results. Overall, the results were relatively heterogeneous and, due to mostly cross-sectional designs, do not allow for causal conclusions. The review further highlights the current limitations of the field, such as a lack of integrative theoretical models, longitudinal and experimental designs, and objective measurement methods.