Employee Communication Resources
Articles
Free and Easy Social Media Monitoring Tools
15 June, 2011
A decade or two ago, it was fairly easy to stay on top of union organizing activity. While union organizers have been known to be very savvy in their marketing, traditional union organizing included things like on-site solicitation, passing out fliers, promoting meetings, and providing easily recognizable signs of organizing activity. That's no longer the case.
Unions have fully embraced electronic communication, and made no bones about the fact that they will continue to exploit online social networking channels. These channels allow them to keep their activities secret, and gather a following before the employer is even aware of their presence.
So, today, it is far more difficult to be proactive in the face of "underground" organizing. Employee communication specialist Projections, Inc. encourages clients to pay close attention to social media sites to monitor what unions are saying and recognize activity.
Projections educates clients on the free tools that are available today that provide the ability to monitor what's being said online. Here are some of those resources, and information on how to get started:
- Get Tweeting. For those who aren't on Twitter, the idea may seem intimidating. But once a user visits the site, those fears are quickly overcome. Twitter was designed to be very user-friendly. Projections recommends setting up an anonymous account for monitoring these conversations. Virtually every national union has a Twitter account, as do a large number of union locals. Following the unions and relevant locals often leads to following related labor sympathizers and activists. Keeping an eye on these messages will provide insight into vulnerability factors as well. One powerful aspect of Twitter is the 'search' bar. Begin with obvious terms – company name, union, and local. Large companies may find an overwhelming amount of dialogue, but searches can be refined to limit irrelevant tweets. Remember, tweets only provide140 characters, so time spent monitoring this channel can be minimal.
- Use Google's smarts. Google Alerts—basically, a perpetual daily term search—are incredibly popular, because they're so easy to set up. Similar to Twitter feeds, the terms should vary depending on the volume of information desired.
Projections recommends starting with these basic terms:
- Company Name (may want to add locations or key words like 'union'),
- Competitors Names (because unions often organize within an industry),
- Relevant Unions (including local).
Google Alert emails are sent, broken down into three sections: News, Blogs, and Video. News is generally the most credible source, consisting of newspapers, online news, magazines, etc. but blog content can also provide excellent "word on the street" information - same with videos.
- Enter the blogosphere. Google Reader is a clean, neat platform designed to organize RSS feeds into one place. Most national unions, along with union-friendly sites, will have a blog that can be read in Google Reader. Because blogs can provide insight into any and all activity, they can be infinitely more valuable than news or simple websites. That said, it also makes sense to go beyond the blog and visit the websites of those writing them. It may take a bit more time, but the information gained is often well worth the effort. Let Google Reader lead the way.
- Show your Face. Our last recommendation revolves around the number one social networking site in the world, Facebook. It's not just a bunch of teenagers chatting it up with their friends anymore, and the platform itself has evolved into a strong platform for organizing communities (not just unions but clubs, local interests, seniors, etc.)
Projections advises clients that a personal profile is the best way to login and search for important information. Most unions have fan pages that allow users to click 'like' or become a 'friend.' These connections are tricky for management, but if the company is not involved in an active organizing drive, there's no harm in monitoring these pages on a regular basis. Just as a side note, Facebook does not report to users who has looked at their page.
One thing many users are unaware of is Facebook's search function. Projections recommends searching posts (status updates) globally, meaning from everyone on Facebook, for a specific word or term (such as company name). Again, similar to Twitter searches, the larger the company, the greater the volume of information returned. Facebook's search also allows the use of terms to find pages/groups affiliated with a company name. Is there a group for disgruntled employees? That's valuable intelligence that allows management to address concerns before they get out of hand.
As opposed to the other three recommendations, Facebook requires the most manual work. Twitter feeds, Google alerts, and Google reader can all be set up and accessed in one location, but Facebook searches will have to be recreated, researched, and monitored each time.
Projections' Social Media expert, Brett Kittredge says the question he gets most is that of time, "Many people want to know how much time should be dedicated to social media monitoring," he says. "There is certainly no set time minimum or maximum, but take care that you don't neglect the information or, conversely, spend way much time analyzing it." According to Kittredge, neither of these time traps is smart. His advice is to set aside a defined amount of time each day (or week) to focus the information and act on it appropriately.
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