What do we mean by social support? A systematic review of HCI research investigating and designing for social support

Social support contributes to numerous health outcomes and overall well-being, and technology now facilitates many forms of support among both strangers and existing ties. Consequently, Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) research has devoted significant attention to understanding and designing for social support. We conducted a systematic review of 183 papers to take stock of this work. We identified several dominant trends: studies frequently focus on social media and online communities, address health-related topics, and explore interactions among strangers who share an identity or experience; use survey and interview methodologies; and encompass user research without the design or deployment of a new system. Notably, most papers do not explicitly conceptualize social support and tend to frame it as uniformly positive. Our review indicates that, although technology increasingly mediates supportive interactions, HCI lacks consistent definitions of technologically mediated social support. We contribute a synthesis of conceptualizations, point out methodological patterns, and offer directions for strengthening future HCI research in this domain.