The speed-to-scrutiny paradox in social media-driven HRM: evidence from Albania

Purpose This study examines the dual role of social media in human resource management (HRM), highlighting how digital platforms simultaneously enhance recruitment efficiency while intensifying ethical, legal and governance challenges. Focusing on Albania as a transition economy, the study explores how HR professionals navigate the tension between speed, reach and visibility, and the requirements of fairness, privacy and regulatory compliance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on McFarland and Ployhart's (2015) discrete ambient stimuli (DAS) framework, complemented by signalling theory, the study adopts a qualitative multi-case design based on 12 semi-structured key-informant interviews with HR decision-makers in 12 organisations, grouped by level of recruitment formalisation, across banking, technology, consulting, microfinance and public administration. Data were analysed thematically using a codebook that separates platform properties (DAS), recruiter interpretation of candidate signals and HR practices, combining theory-driven coding with inductive insights from the Albanian context. Findings The findings show that social media transform recruitment by enhancing accessibility, immediacy and targeting precision, enabling faster and more cost-effective talent acquisition. However, these efficiencies are accompanied by heightened exposure to privacy risks, data permanence and evaluative bias. The study identifies a “speed-to-scrutiny” paradox, whereby the same platform characteristics that accelerate recruitment also expand the scope of candidate evaluation and ethical vulnerability. In response, HR professionals develop emergent governance practices, including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-aligned policies, “minimum data” principles and ethical training, although implementation remains uneven across organisations. Originality/value This study extends the DAS framework to a post-socialist context, integrating it with signalling theory to specify how platform-specific stimuli, as contextual antecedents, alter the candidate signals on which recruiters rely. It identifies institutional formalisation as a boundary condition that moderates whether platform signals supplement or substitute for formal screening. It advances the concept of the speed-to-scrutiny paradox as a core mechanism linking digital efficiency with ethical complexity in HRM, and offers context-sensitive insights into how organisations develop hybrid governance practices in emerging digital labour markets.