The relationship between problematic social media use and fake news sharing: a systematic review

Prior research identifies social, cognitive, emotional, and technological drivers of unverified information online. The spread of fake news on social media has raised concerns about how problematic or excessive use of these platforms may contribute to misinformation diffusion. The present systematic review aims to synthesize current scientific evidence on this topic, in order to identify risk factors for fake news sharing associated with problematic smartphone and social media behaviors. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and EBSCO Discovery Service. Both primary studies and relevant reviews were considered. After screening titles, abstracts and full texts, eligible empirical studies were qualitatively analyzed. Studies published in English between 2014 and 2024 were included if they examined the link between problematic digital media use and fake news sharing. Reviews, editorials, case reports, studies with overlapping samples, and records without full text were excluded. Seventeen cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria, with sample sizes ranging from 209 to 1022. Key influencing factors included social media news use, fear of missing out, social media addiction, information overload, information strain, social overload, social media fatigue, gratification and trust in online information. Moreover, included studies analyzed both intentional and unintentional fake news sharing. Findings consistently link problematic social media use with both intentional and unintentional fake news sharing. The absence of European studies reveals a significant research gap. Findings underscore the importance of promoting media literacy and responsible digital engagement to curb misinformation.