A socio-technical system perspective to exploring the negative effects of social media on work performance

PurposeThis research aims to explore the potential negative effects of social media on employees' work performance in a stressful working environment.Design/methodology/approachThis study model was tested using a sample of 398 social media users from China.FindingsStructural equation modeling analysis provide support for most of the hypothesized relationships as results reveal that social stressors and technical stressors are related to exhaustion and anxiety of employees using social media. Furthermore, results reveal that exhaustion and anxiety exhibit a negative influence on employees' work performance.Originality/valueThis study extends the authors’ understanding of how social stressors and technical stressors are related to work performance. The integration of the transactional theory of stress and coping with socio-technical systems offers a holistic view to explain the phenomenon of stress in the social media context.