Social media has been well-established in health-related purposes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary reviews have summarized social media uses for a distinctive health purpose such as health interventions, health campaigns, medical education, and disease outbreak surveillance. The most recent thorough review of social media uses for health purposes, however, was conducted in 2013. A systematic review that covers various health purposes is needed to reveal the new usages and research gaps that emerge in recent years. This study aimed to provide a systematic review of social media uses for health purposes that have been identified in previous studies. The researchers searched for peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2010 and 2020 in.10 databases covering medicine, public health, and social science. After classifying the articles in terms of publication year, journal area, country, method, social media platform, and social media use for health purposes, the researchers provided a review of social media use for health purposes identified in these articles. This study summarized 7 social media uses for various health purposes by health organizations, health researchers and practitioners, and the public. Social media can be used for various health purposes. Several new usages have emerged since 2013 including advancing health research and practice, social mobilization, and facilitating offline health-related services and events. Research gaps exist regarding advancing strategic use of social media based on audience segmentation, understanding the impact of health identity development, and addressing privacy concerns and evaluating the impact of social media in health interventions.
