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Union use of social media: a study of the U niversity and C ollege U nion on T witter
Author(s) -
Hodder Andy,
Houghton David
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new technology, work and employment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.889
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-005X
pISSN - 0268-1072
DOI - 10.1111/ntwe.12055
Subject(s) - social media , political science , active listening , sociology , law , communication
The importance of the I nternet to trade unionism has not gone unnoticed by academics, and while many have perceived the need for unions to engage in social media, there has not been any study of how unions use social media. This paper provides a systematic examination of union social media use in terms of method, scope and content. The U niversity and C ollege U nion ( UCU ) T witter account was used as a case study. Tweets ( n = 1,615) were collected over a four‐month period ( J anuary 1– A pril 30, 2014) from the official UCU account with followers ( n = 12,301) also categorised to determine who is listening. Findings are discussed with reference to earlier debates on union use of the I nternet. We find that while UCU has moved with technological developments by using T witter, the content of the union's messages remain in line with traditional union communication, and the engagement opportunities of social media are underutilised.