The Role of Digital Communities in Organizing Gig Workers
It is found that more frequent interaction with other workers in online communities is associated with improved views of union instrumentality and interest in joining a ridehail drivers' association.
Abstract
Using survey data from 450 ridehail drivers, this article examines how social networking sites (SNS) influence workers’ views on union instrumentality and unionization. This article finds that more frequent interaction with other workers in online communities is associated with improved views of union instrumentality and interest in joining a ridehail drivers' association. These findings link together the fields of information sciences and industrial relations and suggest a new institutional actor in modern industrial systems, the online worker network.