Social Media, Policy Perception, and Welfare Decisions: An Interdisciplinary Review of Contemporary Research

Abstract

This review examines how social media platforms like Rednote, Wechat, and Instagram shape public attitudes toward welfare policies. These platforms influence policy discussions through mechanisms such as algorithmic content filtering, collective mobilization, and real-time sentiment analysis. Social media’s impact on policy discourse is a double-edged sword. It offers significant potential for democratic engagement but also poses challenges related to misinformation and polarization. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights, this review highlights the importance of understanding social media’s role in shaping welfare policy outcomes. The review emphasizes the need for better methodologies to capture the influence of social media and offers recommendations for policymakers, platform designers, and researchers. It calls for more transparent and cross-disciplinary research approaches to address these challenges effectively.