Social Media Research Associate
Cardiff University
Wil is a WISERD Research Associate based in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. His PhD thesis explores the nature of contemporary governance by examining the changing landscape of digital surveillance and resistance. Wil has a background in criminology and sociology and prior to taking up his current position in WISERD, worked on ESRC/EPSRC-funded research investigating business-related cybercrime in the UK.
Wil is working across the WISERD Civil Society research programme, exploring the relationship between engagement with social media and civil society. He is also drawing on an interest in developing innovative methodologies to examine the potential that social media research methods can bring to this field.
Currently Wil is involved in research for WISERD Civil Society that is investigating the role social media plays for trade unions in the UK, including following the development of industrial action by employees of McDonald's and TGI Fridays employees. He is also exploring issues facing workers in the gig economy and alternatives to platform capitalism such as platform cooperativism.
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
Journal and Journal Article
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...
Cruciblees present their ‘research landscapes’ on day one 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...
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 28-30 th July marked the 8 th 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 20 th -23 rd April marked the 7 th 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 4 th 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...
Cardiff Lunchtime Seminar
Platform cooperativism in the UK: Resistance in the Digital Economy’
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...
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2018
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2018: Trade union organising through social media
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...
Cardiff Lunchtime Seminar
Forms of ‘connective action’? Social media and the Labour Movement
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...
Cardiff Lunchtime Seminar
Social Media and Trade Unions: Prevalence and Patterns of Use
Presented by Wil Chivers (Cardiff University)