This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on social presence in order to identify significant research works, contribute valuable insights into emerging research areas, and provide an overview of global research trends. The study also aims to assist future researchers in locating relevant information aligned with their research interests. The research employs bibliometric analysis to examine 1962 journal articles published between 1958 and 2022, focusing on various aspects such as publication outputs, co-authorships among authors and affiliated countries, and co-occurrences of author keywords referenced in the Scopus database. Additionally, the study identifies the most active institutions, productive journals, and prolific authors in the field of social presence. Notably, the analysis reveals a consistent increase in cumulative publication numbers from 2014 to 2018, with an annual increment of 100 articles. More than 55% of the total publications originate from researchers based in China and the United States. Moreover, among the top 15 countries, four of their most prolific universities are ranked among the world's top 100 universities. The findings of the bibliometric study highlight that research on social presence predominantly focuses on captivating themes such as e-learning, social media, computer-mediated communication (CMC), and communities of inquiry (CoI). The primary objective of the study is to identify shifts in publication outputs, co-authorships, affiliated countries, and author keywords, thereby unveiling prevailing publication trends within the field of social presence. The scope of the study primarily centres on the identification of trends through bibliometric analysis. The study's findings indicate an upward trend in the publication of articles concerning social presence, which is expected to continue. Furthermore, co-authorship and co-occurrence investigations are undertaken to assess leading countries and frequently employed keywords in the literature.
