Preoccupation with social media and employee performance

Social media usage patterns and norms vary significantly across industries and cultures. This study investigates how cognitive preoccupation with social media affects employee performance. More specifically, it focuses on the role the regulatory mechanisms of task-oriented and relationship-oriented uses of social media play in the relationship between cognitive preoccupation and employees’ performance in Türkiye. Survey questionnaires were administered to 331 healthcare professionals in six private and public hospitals in Istanbul. A significant negative relationship between cognitive preoccupation and employee performance was observed. This relationship was positively moderated by task-oriented and relationship-oriented social media use. The study makes social cognition theory more specific by applying it to the case of social media use while generalizing it to the healthcare industry in Türkiye. Moreover, it refines social capital theory by providing insights into mitigating the negative consequences of excessive use of social media on employee performance. The development of a cross-cultural theory of the use of social media would require comparable studies that should be conducted in other industries and cultures.