Transcript Trade Unions, Web 2.0 and Social Media

Trade Unions, Web 2.0
and Social Media
Using new technology to organise
CCISUA Conference
The Hague
May 2010
Walton Pantland
Glasgow, Scotland
[email protected]
http://cyberunions.org
Background
www.labourstart.org
Started in 1997, the site is
still going strong. It
aggregates trade union
news from around the
world, and sends out ‘action
alerts’ to coordinate
international solidarity
LabourStart – “where trade
unionists start their day on
the net” – was the first and
most important labour
movement initiative on the
Internet
New tools, collectively
referred to as Web 2.0, are
putting unprecedented
power into the hands of
ordinary activists
What is ‘Web 2.0’?
Web 1.0
static websites designed by professionals
Web 2.0
easy to edit, dynamic, participative
Why is this useful for unions?
Free, easy to use communications tools
Improves communications with reps and members
Gets the union message across to media and the rest of
the world
Enhances union democracy by keeping people
informed and engaged
Makes the union a more dynamic organisation
Tools
Social networks – Facebook, Unionbook, Ning
Microblogging – twitter, identica
Blogs, wikis and websites
Telecommunications
Countries with low Internet penetration
But first, an interesting trade
union campaign
IN 2007, the
union UNIGlobal held a
cyber picket in
the virtual
reality world,
Second Life,
against IBM.
Appropriate technology
Technology must be
appropriate to the
needs of the people
it serves
No point setting up
a website for people
who have no
Internet access
Simpler solutions
are usually better
Cheap or free is
good
Experiment widely – what
works for one group might
not work for others
Social Networks
The social network
that everyone is on –
including your boss
and your mother.
Useful for keeping in
touch, but major
privacy concerns.
www.facebook.com
A social networking site for
trade union activists.
Very useful for sharing
ideas with activists in other
countries.
www.unionbook.org
The site I used to create the CCISUA social
network. Unfortunately it is no longer
free.
http://ccisua.ning.com/
Not really a social network
– more for sharing news
Dynamic, real time
communication
Great for ‘crowdsourcing
ideas
Unique syntax:
‘@’ identifies a user – for
instance I am @leischa on
twitter
‘#’ makes a term
searchable by creating a
hashtag – e.g. #unions
‘RT’ means ‘retweet’, or
forward a message
My message
‘@’ replies
Most people use an app like Tweetdeck to follow twitter.
Tweetdeck is
dynamic, with
tweets rolling down
the screen like a
waterfall – or
twitterfall.
You can follow
different streams in
the different column
Some twitter campaigns & hashtags
#vestas
#unions
#BAstrike
#Iloveimmigrants
#trafigura
#Nestle
#iranelection
Set up a simple branch website
Blogger.com
Create a basic
website using free
tools
Wordpress.com
Yola.com
Wikidot.com
Register a custom
domain - $10 - $ 15
per year, e.g.
www.yourunion.org
Integrate Web 2.0
tools to keep
content dynamic
Create a custom
email address with
Google Apps, e.g.
[email protected]
Most sites have
tutorials to show you
how to do this
Smart Phones
BlackBerry
Allows you to access
Web 2.0 anywhere
Android
iPhone
They are getting
cheaper…
Telecommunications
Free software you can
download to your computer
– allows you to make free
phone and video calls to any
other user in the world.
Allows you to ‘stream’ live
video from a smart phone
to the Internet*
*Needs a fast Internet connection
Other useful tools
Online
Surveys
Easy to use, and
allows you to find
out exactly what
matters to your
members
surveymonkey.com
Why not take my online survey,
and tell me how you use
technology in your union work?
www.surveymonkey.com/s/cyberunions
Used by Unite in recognition
campaigns
Other useful tools
Delicious.com integrates with your
browser and allows you to save, tag and
share interesting links online…
…you can export the links using RSS…
…and display them on your
branch website – along with
any other RSS feed.
What about countries with low
Internet penetration?
SMS – the Text Message
Mobile phones are ubiquitous in
developing countries
There are many examples of
activists using text messages –
for instance to monitor elections
Frontline
SMS is a
great tool
Frontline SMS is
free software
that runs on a PC
hub and collates
information sent
by text message.
The PC doesn’t
need an Internet
connection – it
uses ordinary
mobile networks
to send
messages.
Why are so many tools free?
Most common business
model is ‘freemium’ –
basic account for free,
paid account with more
features
The are lots of free tools
for union activists
People who create free
and open source
software are
ideologically committed
to making tools freely
available
Go out there and experiment!
Free and Open Source Software
Operating systems
Linux
…as well as free software that runs on
any system: Open Office, Scribus,
Inkscape and thousands more
Recommendations
Unions and their activists should make a
conscious decision to embrace new technology
Unions should train their reps and
members to use online tools
Reps should feel free to
experiment widely
We should accept that new
technologies will create more open,
fluid and dynamic union structures.
This is a good thing.
Warning!
Privacy: there is no such
thing as online privacy. If
you don’t want people to
know, don’t post it!
Expect glitches – hardware
and software failure is
common. Batteries run
out, or there is no WiFi or
3G signal.
“Facebook helps you
connect and share with
the people in your life Whether you want to or
not.”
Incompatibility – there are
still no standard file
formats
www.youropenbook.org
State and corporate
control – we need to
defend the freedom of
cyberspace
What’s next?
Web 3.0
the ‘semantic’ web: knows who
you are and responds intelligently, showing
you the content you are most interested in
If you enjoyed this presentation,
please feel free to copy, remix and
reuse it in anyway you see fit.
For more information, contact me:
[email protected]
cyberunions.org
Twitter: @leischa