Social media power in creation of alternative public field: An investigation on workers 'associations

Today, with the development of communication technologies, new media technologies have also increased. The social media that develops along with the internet is also creating a virtual public space. The formation of a virtual public space also means that social movements move from the virtual to the real world. At the same time, social media creates a broad communication network like mass communication and creates a space for virtual discussion and reconciliation. Internet and social media, which take the place of traditional communication tools, free, practical, participatory and easily accessible environment. This study examines the power of social media to create an alternative public space in the present day, through twitter accounts of determined labor unions. The way in which social media places social movements and activism is determined by the share of these unions. To unleash the potential of social media in creating social movements and alternative public space of the three major unions in Turkey DISK, KESK, HAK-IS TURK-IS and associations have been investigated. In this context, this study discusses the potential of social media activism to create an alternative public sphere. Work carried out on twitter accounts of trade unions; social media usage, in which cases they were heavily used, in which subjects were shared, and where the intensity of the shares were categorized. The aim of this work is to show how trade unions use twitter, a social media platform, as a mobilizing tool, and how union twittershares create an alternative public space by online users and how users of sharing can act. Keywords: Public Sphere, Internet, Social Media, Activism, Workers' Unions