  Hadronic resonances are unique tools to investigate the interplay of
re-scattering and regeneration effects in the hadronic phase of heavy-ion
collisions. As the $\phi$ meson has a longer lifetime compared to other
resonances, it is expected that its production will not be affected by
regeneration and re-scattering processes. Measurements in small collision
systems such as proton-proton (pp) collisions provide a necessary baseline for
heavy-ion data and help to tune pQCD inspired event generators. Given that the
$\phi$ is a bound state of strange-antistrange quark pair (s$\bar{\rm{s}}$),
measurements of its production can contribute to the study of strangeness
production. Recent results obtained by using the ALICE detector show that
although $\phi$ has zero net strangeness content, it behaves like a particle
with open strangeness in small collision systems and the experimental results
agree with thermal model predictions in large systems. The production mechanism
of $\phi$ is yet to be understood. We report on measurements with the ALICE
detector at the LHC of $\phi$ meson production in pp, p--Pb, Xe--Xe and Pb--Pb
collisions. These results are reported for minimum bias event samples and as a
function of the charged particle multiplicity or centrality. The results
include the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) distributions of $\phi$ as well
as the $\langle p_{\rm T}\rangle$ and particle yield ratios. The $\phi$
effective strangeness will be discussed in relation to descriptions of its
production mechanism, such as strangeness canonical suppression,
non-equilibrium production of strange quarks and thermal models.
