Studies of user-generated content: A systematic review

This article presents a review of communication research on user-generated content with a special focus on studies which include a content analysis. The trends of research on this comparatively new and rapidly developing subject are systematically discussed and desiderata are identified. The evaluation is based on a content analysis of pertinent approaches in nine relevant international peer-reviewed journals published from 2004 to 2012. From the results, the article concludes that user-generated content is approached by scholars from a variety of perspectives and offers scope for interdisciplinary cooperation but also notes that several of the challenges posed by the continuously changing nature of the content are not fully met.