The labour movement's use of social media and perspective on digital labour and audience commodity : the case of trade unionists in Turkey

Esin, Boris Ivanovič (author), Efe, Eren (author)

The study examines the extent to which individuals actively involved in trade unions1 in Turkey, and holding various positions within these structures, are familiar with the concept of digital labour. Also explored is whether such individuals perceive their online activities, particularly on Twitter, as unpaid labour. For this purpose, the snowball sampling method was employed in the research, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants, namely professional unionists and union workers who create content on Twitter. The study revealed that the participants overlooked immaterial labour while assessing the concept of labour and were unfamiliar with digital labour. It is shown that while they are knowledgeable about various aspects of the labour movement, greater awareness regarding the prevalence of unpaid labour via social media is required. The presented research contributes to the literature by offering the perspective of trade unionists with respect to digital labour.

• Language: English
• Keywords: labour movement, political economy, digital labour, social media, labour union
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Turčija
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 24.12.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 889-907
• Numbering: Letn. 61, št. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-167843
• UDC: 331.105
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• DOI: 10.51936/tip.61.4.889
• COBISS.SI-ID: 226157315
• Publication date in RUL: 14.03.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Uporaba družbenih omrežij med pripadniki delavskega gibanja ter njihov pogled na digitalno delo in občinstvo kot tržno blago

Abstract

Poudarjajo, da so uporabniki družbenih medijev izkoriščani z neplačanim delom kot prosumerji. Ta študija preučuje seznanjenost posameznikov, ki so aktivno vključeni v delavske sindikate v Turčiji in zasedajo različne položaje v teh strukturah, s konceptom digitalnega dela. Raziskuje tudi, ali ti posamezniki dojemajo svoje spletne aktivnosti, zlasti na Twitterju, kot neplačano delo. V ta namen smo v raziskavi uporabili metodo snežne kepe in izvedli polstrukturirane intervjuje z enajstimi udeleženci, sestavljenimi iz poklicnih sindikalistov in sindikalistov, ki ustvarjajo vsebine na Twitterju. Študija je pokazala, da so udeleženci pri ocenjevanju koncepta dela spregledali nematerialno delo in niso bili seznanjeni z digitalnim delom. Študija kaže, da čeprav so dobro seznanjeni z različnimi vidiki delavskega gibanja, je potrebna večja ozaveščenost glede razširjenosti neplačanega dela prek družbenih medijev

• Keywords: delavsko gibanje, politična ekonomija, digitalno delo, socialni mediji, sindikat delavcev