Social Media Research Associate
Cardiff University
I am a WISERD Research Associate based in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Since 2015 I have worked across the Civil Society research centre, exploring the relationship between engagement with social media and civil society. This has included research into the use of social media by social movements and during instances of collective and industrial action. Presently I am leading research on the platform economy - including an ethnographic study of cycle couriers in Cardiff - and alternative kinds of work and organisation in the form of platform cooperativism.
I am also drawing on an interest in developing innovative methodologies to examine the potential that social media and digital research methods can bring to this field. This has included content and social network analysis of Twitter data using Gephi, COSMOS and NodeXL and mobile digital methods such as GPS mapping and photography.
Broadly, my research interests centre around digital society and the impact of new technologies on people and places. My PhD thesis explored the changing landscape of digital surveillance and resistance and developed theories of social control and nodal governance. I have a background in criminology and sociology and prior to taking up my current position in WISERD, worked on ESRC/EPSRC-funded research investigating business-related cybercrime in the UK.
This project is currently considering the potential value of an analysis of virtual patterns of trade union organisation and mobilisation and specifically the contribution of social media to the rescaling of trade unionism. This includes both: the virtual linkages of the
Machines, platforms and capabilities utilises mixed methods to examine the significance of different sectors of the gig economy within local labour markets, and includes the study of co-operative alternatives to more dominant forms of platform capitalism. Start date provided
Journal Articles
Communications surveillance in the UK has been an increasingly contentious issue since the early 2000s. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is the result of a long series of attempts by the UK government to reform communications surveillance legislation. The consultations on...
On Monday 9th September, a team of WISERD researchers from Cardiff University, Helen Blakely, Wil Chivers, Rhys Davies, Steve Davies and Katy Huxley, will share the latest findings from our research on trade union membership in the UK, to the TUC...
Three WISERD researchers – Constantino Dumangane, Wil Chivers and Ian Thomas – have successfully secured places on the 2019 GW4 Crucible. The GW4 Crucible is a competitive annual programme that seeks to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between...
The first lab of the 2019 Crucible took place at Bailbrook House in Bath on the 6th and 7th February. On day one – inspired by Simon Sinek’s ‘Start With Why’ – we were encouraged to start by thinking about why we do the research we do and following...
Strikes have taken place at McDonald’s and TGI Friday’s restaurants across the UK in recent months. These strikes are the first of their kind in the UK, instigated by a new generation of trade union members fighting for better pay and fairer working...
Continuing with research into current trade union activity, WISERD researcher Wil Chivers reports from a day spent in London last Friday, as TGI Friday’s staff go on strike for the first time in Covent Garden and Milton Keynes. Another week, another...
Following last week’s WISERD blog about the 2017 McDonald’s strike, Wil Chivers and Helen Blakely report from the picket lines in London at the UK’s second McStrike. Until now our research on the McStrike has been at a distance. We’ve followed the...
In September 2017, McDonald’s workers went on strike for the first time in the UK. Researchers at WISERD analysed the social media conversation that surrounded the ‘McStrike’ at the time. With a second McStrike scheduled for the 1st May Wil Chivers...
The 28-30th July marked the 8th annual Social Media & Society Conference. The conference is organised by the Social Media Lab at Ryerson University in Toronto and this year it returned home to Canada after last year’s excursion to Goldsmiths in...
As part of the WISERD Cardiff lunchtime seminar series, Dr Wil Chivers recently reported early findings from his research into trade unions on Twitter. Back in September I introduced the Social Media Research Series of blogs here at WISERD. Following...
Introduction to the Social Media Research Series Welcome to a new blog series here at WISERD, dedicated to exploring some of the key issues with using social media for social research. This was initially conceived as a chance to outline some of the...
The 20th-23rd April marked the 7th Biennial Surveillance and Society Conference, held for the second time running in Barcelona, courtesy of Eticas Research & Consulting. Coming from a background in surveillance studies, these conferences are...
This project is currently considering the potential value of an analysis of virtual patterns of trade union organisation and mobilisation and specifically the contribution of social media to the rescaling of trade unionism. This includes both: the...
On the 4th November, Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled the government’s proposals for updating the UK’s legislative framework for communications surveillance. The arrival in parliament of the Investigatory Powers Bill has been long-awaited and its...
Presented by Wil Chivers , Cardiff University . This seminar is part of the Cardiff WISERD Lunchtime Seminar series. If you are an external guest, please contact us (029 2087 9338) to confirm availability of places. For further information please...
Unions have faced decades of hostile legislation designed to make them ineffective, have seen the collapse of parts of the economy that were union strongholds and the growth of precarious work. They have been written off as out of date and out of...
Presented by Wil Chivers, Cardiff University This seminar is part of the Cardiff WISERD Lunchtime Seminar series. If you are an external guest, please contact us (029 2087 9338) to confirm availability of places. For further information please...
9:30 – tea, coffee and registration; 10-12 workshop This workshop, run by WISERD researchers, will share insights from recent trade union campaigns which effectively used social media to get their messages across. The workshop is designed for trade...
Presented by Helen Blakely and Wil Chivers, Cardiff University. This seminar is part of the WISERD Cardiff lunchtime seminar series. If you are an external guest, please contact us (029 2087 9338) to confirm space availability. For more information...
Presented by Wil Chivers (Cardiff University)