How Social Media Addiction Shapes Productivity and Innovation Among Knowledge Workers: Evidence From A Survey Study at Korek Telecom

In particular, the widespread availability of social media among non-knowledge workers has made it an unavoidable primary form of interaction in everyday work. But ire has been built over possible negative side effects from overusing the apps on staff performance and general work effectiveness. Despite numerous studies on this question, the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory, especially in developing-country contexts where work environments and digital practices may vary. Hence, the present study seeks to examine how social media addiction affects two significant aspects of performance: employee productivity and innovation. A quantitative methodology was used, and data were collected through a survey of 225 randomly selected knowledge workers at Korek Telecom Company in Iraq. The questionnaire was developed based on previous literature and adapted according to the study area. The data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4. It has been shown that social media addiction greatly affects the productivity of employees. Innovation, on the other hand, became a diffusing element that did not have an effect on innovation. This leads to overuse, which may affect competence in executing a task but does not have the same impact on idea generation. The findings offer important insights for organizations seeking to improve social media management.