Framing Unionization on Facebook: Communication around Representation Elections in the United States
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866917390590148608 |
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| author | Pera, Arianna Jude, Veronica Budak, Ceren Aiello, Luca Maria |
| author_facet | Pera, Arianna Jude, Veronica Budak, Ceren Aiello, Luca Maria |
| contents | Digital media have become central to how labor unions communicate, organize, and sustain collective action. Yet little is known about how unions' online discourse relates to concrete outcomes such as representation elections. This study addresses the gap by combining National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election data with 158k Facebook posts published by U.S. labor unions between 2015 and 2024. We focused on five discourse frames widely recognized in labor and social movement communication research: diagnostic (identifying problems), prognostic (proposing solutions), motivational (mobilizing action), community (emphasizing solidarity), and engagement (promoting social media interaction). Using a fine-tuned RoBERTa classifier, we systematically annotated unions' posts and analyzed patterns of frame usage around election events. Our findings showed that diagnostic and community frames dominated union communication overall, but that frame usage varied substantially across organizations. Greater use of diagnostic, prognostic, and community frames prior to an election was associated with higher odds of a successful outcome. After elections, framing patterns diverged depending on results: after wins, the use of prognostic and motivational frames decreased, whereas after losses, the use of prognostic and engagement frames increased. By examining variation in message-level framing, the study highlights how communication strategies correlate with organizational success, contributing open tools and data, and complementing prior research in understanding digital communication of unions and social movements. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_01757 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Framing Unionization on Facebook: Communication around Representation Elections in the United States Pera, Arianna Jude, Veronica Budak, Ceren Aiello, Luca Maria Computers and Society Social and Information Networks Physics and Society Digital media have become central to how labor unions communicate, organize, and sustain collective action. Yet little is known about how unions' online discourse relates to concrete outcomes such as representation elections. This study addresses the gap by combining National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election data with 158k Facebook posts published by U.S. labor unions between 2015 and 2024. We focused on five discourse frames widely recognized in labor and social movement communication research: diagnostic (identifying problems), prognostic (proposing solutions), motivational (mobilizing action), community (emphasizing solidarity), and engagement (promoting social media interaction). Using a fine-tuned RoBERTa classifier, we systematically annotated unions' posts and analyzed patterns of frame usage around election events. Our findings showed that diagnostic and community frames dominated union communication overall, but that frame usage varied substantially across organizations. Greater use of diagnostic, prognostic, and community frames prior to an election was associated with higher odds of a successful outcome. After elections, framing patterns diverged depending on results: after wins, the use of prognostic and motivational frames decreased, whereas after losses, the use of prognostic and engagement frames increased. By examining variation in message-level framing, the study highlights how communication strategies correlate with organizational success, contributing open tools and data, and complementing prior research in understanding digital communication of unions and social movements. |
| title | Framing Unionization on Facebook: Communication around Representation Elections in the United States |
| topic | Computers and Society Social and Information Networks Physics and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.01757 |