Social Media has been transforming numerous activities of everyday life, impacting professional conduct in most careers and jobs. The integration of social media into the workplace and professional life is a debatable issue. While the use of social media by professional practitioners enables them to share their knowledge and keep them connected with their international peers and the public, it might have some adverse effects when misinformation is spread, and institutional privacy is violated.
This article aims to highlight some professional Instagram users from Kuwait by analyzing their content. It consists of an overall compilation from the work of a group of volunteer students from my Career Perspective course, which was taught during the Summer of 2022 at the College of Life Sciences at Kuwait University. During this class, students were introduced to the basic concepts and processes related to selecting a career and a job, in addition to learning the main skills required in applying for a job and maintaining it.
The students in this course belong to four departments across the College of Life Sciences; the Department of Information Science, the Department of Communication Disorders Science, the Department of Environmental Technology Management, and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. The volunteer students are partitioned into teams based on their departments, and each team did a basic social media search and a brief analysis of professionals from the same profession of their specialty living in Kuwait. Each team were free in selecting the criteria and content of their analysis and report.
This article focuses only on one team efforts and the next articles will review the works of the other teams. Thus, in the following sections, the analysis from the Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) group is discussed. The volunteering team members are as the following:
- Demah Almutairi
- Layali Alshammeri
- Alshouq Alkandari
- Halima Omar
- Loloh Alhabashy
- Reem Alenezi
- Sarah Alajmi
- Khadejah Alali
- Dhuha Alnomas
- Alaa Alshammari
- Najlaa Alosaimi
- Ayah A lenezi
Speech and Language Pathologists
Speech and language pathologists (SLPs) are professionals who provide services related to identifying, assessing, and treating speech, language, and swallowing disorders. Part of their job is to advocate and raise awareness on the various disorders and evidence-based treatments as well. Therefore, many SLPs use social media for the purpose of introducing themselves, discussing topics, and educating others about the field, especially since people now tend to use social media when looking for information on individuals or topics. Every SLP differs from the others by a unique social media account, so we’ve listed the following analysis of several Instagram accounts of SLPs to gain insight into their use of social media as related to the field of speech-language pathology:
1. Reem Almutairi/ @Fluent.child:
This account focuses on the role of SLPs to train and spread awareness. Reem spreads awareness about stuttering in a creative way, she uses cartoon characters to convey information easily. She’s running an initiative “Muntalaq / مُنطلق”, where she uses creative ways to help children with stuttering. In addition, Reem shares her works via Instagram with other SLPs. Her Instagram is https://instagram.com/fluent.child?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
2. Abeer Almosa / @therapist_abeeralmosa:
Abeer shares posts that are informative and educational for those who want to learn and know about some impairments that prevent the individual from communicating. She also shares announcements of her lectures about certain topics that anyone can enter. She answers questions, shares advice, and shares podcasts with other professionals to spread more information. Her Instagram is available on this link https://www.instagram.com/therapist_abeeralmosa/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D .
3. Jinan Almutawa/ @jinan_slp:
Jinan’s account is personally more than educational. She uses it to share personal activities related to her work at a school as an SLP. She also posts events that she attends or is part of it. She answers questions and helps SLP students. Jinan Instagram account can be accessed from this link https://www.instagram.com/jinan_slp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
4. Badria Alharbi/ @slp.b_:
Badria Al-Harbi has an educational account that contains useful information and a series to explain her professional specialty. In addition, her account is very informative and attractive as it provide illustrative support to each post by pictures expressing the situation. It also facilitated the search for information by placing each subject in a highlighted stories. Her account can be accessed from this link https://www.instagram.com/slp.b_/ .
5. Hessa Alhurais/ @hessa_slp :
Hessa’a account combines her personal life and her professional specialty. She is not sharing information about the speciality, but she share content about her study and how to study. She also has a YouTube channel, but she publishes more about her daily life and to some extent about her family. Moreover, she is also sharing posts in another account in which she and her professional colleagues share posts to spread information about their project with the Kuwait National Library to publish information covering topics related to motherhood, such as how to train a mother to deal with her child and enhance his language. Hessa Instagram is available on this link https://www.instagram.com/hessa_slp/
6. Manar Alkandari/ @proud_to_be_slp:
This account is a specialized account to educate parents about speech and language problems and the best practices to treat them. The most distinguished aspect of Manar’s post is how she is trying to change the stereotype of the person with autism. She is using her account to educate families and societies that autism is not a disease or contagious. This account can be accessed through this link https://www.instagram.com/proud_to_be_slp/ .
7. Danah Adel Al-Khatrash/ @communicate_kw :
Danah is a speech and language therapist. Her account is very useful, it contains valuable information, such as the way parents deal with their children and how it can affect the way children speak, and how to improve dealing with children whose attitude is dominated by anger. Dana Adel conducts workshops on positive parenting strategies and her account is very active. Her account is available on this link https://www.instagram.com/communicate_kw/
8. Rudaina Nijem/ @neenspeech:
Rudaina Nijem is a speech pathologist, she works in the Audiology and Speech Clinic. Rudaina’s account answers common questions and enquiries related to her profession. She shares with the followers some of the excerpts of her sessions, especially with children, demonstrating how her dealings with children is very affectionate and patient. Her account is very Interactive, and she also shared her daily life at the clinic using the stories on Instagram. Her account is available on this link https://www.instagram.com/neenaspeech/.
9. Shahad Shehab/ @slpshahadshehab:
Shahad is a speech-language pathologist who owns a speech therapy center. She shares information related to the field of communication disorders since 2014. Her Instagram account is very informative and helpful. Parents and anyone can benefit from reading her posts. The account is used to raise awareness and promote for her center. It can be accessed through this link https://www.instagram.com/slpshahadshehab/ .
10. Rubab AlHussainy/ @speechlearning:
Rubab shares information, tips, and activities about autism, language development, and communication. Her Instagram account is available at https://www.instagram.com/speechlearning/
11. Marina/ @slp.marina:
Marina is a student in speech-language pathologist. She shares information about communication disorders and neurological problems impacting person’s communication. Some advices are also shared on this account to future SLPs. The account can benefit anyone who is interested in the field, and it can be accessed by https://www.instagram.com/slp.marina/?hl=en .
12. Sumaia Alasfour/ @initials_kw:
Sumaia created a professional account for her clinic (initials) in which she posts about issues in speech-language pathology. Her posts are always realistic, showing videos of herself or her clients instead of cartoons or other symbols. Posts aren’t uploaded at a specific pattern in terms of the timing, but there is a consistency to the content of sequential posts. For instance, for a few months, posts were on different topics in speech-language pathology but consistent in terms of the design and type of posts (a video and a post for the title). Later, posts were only about the recent summer camp she organized (which were the most popular posts in the account), and they were also consistent in terms of the design and content. The account is valuable and beneficial for people who want to learn quick tips on how to deal with the children that face difficulties around them. It can be accessed through https://www.instagram.com/initials_kw/ .
13. Lina / @lina.slp:
Lina has a master’s degree from the United States of America. She treats speech and language disorders. Her posts contains some awareness posts about autism, learning difficulties, hearing, and speech. Her account is available at https://www.instagram.com/lina.slp/ .
14. Eman Darweesh/ @rhymespeech:
In this account, you will encounter professional, personal, and general positive posts that aren’t necessarily related to the communication disorder field. Eman is highly active, posting almost every day. The professional posts are informative and explaining issues thoroughly. Eman also answers questions of caregivers in the comment section. She uses realistic photos and cartoons which give an approachable and friendly impression. Her account can be accessed from this link https://www.instagram.com/rhymespeech1/
15. zainab/ @slp_zainab :
Zainab is an SlP, she hold a bachelors degree in Communication Disorder Science from Kuwait University. Her account is not very active and can be accessed from this link https://www.instagram.com/slp_zainab/ .
16. Zahraa Ghazanfari/ @slp_zahraa :
Zahraa is a Kuwaiti speech and language pathologist. She works in a private clinic at Mazaya, her account is very active. She shares about her interviews and explained issues related to speech and hearing problems. Her account can be accessed through https://www.instagram.com/slp_zahraa/.
Although these accounts are not considered a representative sample of all the SLPs accounts in Kuwait, it does, however, provide a quick glimpse at the trends of how SLPs use social media. One of the most noted points is that the majority of the SLPs found were females, as their number outweighs the male SLPs by far. Nonetheless, they all post about the field of speech-language pathology, even if the account was more personal than professional. It was also noted that some weren’t active compared to others who post regularly, which gives those who are active an advantage as people engage and interact with them more.
Additional Accounts
| Account Name | Link to the account | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @slp.b_ | https://www.instagram.com/slp.b_/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp_maraheb | https://www.instagram.com/slp_maraheb/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @hessa_slp | https://www.instagram.com/hessa_slp/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp_zahraa | https://www.instagram.com/slp_zahraa/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slpshahadshehab | https://www.instagram.com/slpshahadshehab/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp.b_ | https://instagram.com/slp.b_?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @sumaia_alasfour | https://instagram.com/sumaia_alasfour?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @communicate_kw | https://instagram.com/communicate_kw?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @Jinan_slp | https://instagram.com/jinan_slp?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @alameerm | https://instagram.com/alameerm?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @speachlearing | https://instagram.com/speechlearning?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp_zainab | https://instagram.com/slp_zainab?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @wellness_bydana | https://instagram.com/wellness_bydana?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @speech_therapy_kuwait | https://instagram.com/speech_therapy_kuwait?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @proud_to_slp | https://instagram.com/proud_to_be_slp?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @ speechista | https://instagram.com/speechista?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @ falqamous | https://instagram.com/falqarnous?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @ slp_kw | https://instagram.com/slp.kw?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @ rhymespeech | https://instagram.com/rhymespeech1?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @ khadeejaea | https://instagram.com/khadeejaea?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @jinan_slp | https://instagram.com/jinan_slp?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @speechlearning | https://instagram.com/speechlearning?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @therapist_abeeralmosa | https://instagram.com/therapist_abeeralmosa?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slpshahadshehab | https://instagram.com/slpshahadshehab?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @fluent.child | https://instagram.com/fluent.child?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Slp.fatma | https://www.instagram.com/slp.fatma/?hl=en | ||||||||||||||||||||
| lina.slp | https://www.instagram.com/lina.slp/?hl=en | ||||||||||||||||||||
| speechpathotogist | https://instagram.com/speechpathologist?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kayong_slp | https://instagram.com/kayong_slp?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Zainabloushi | https://www.instagram.com/zainabloushi/?hl=en | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp_maraheb | https://instagram.com/slp_maraheb?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp_mommy | https://instagram.com/slp.mommy?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @slp.b_ | https://instagram.com/slp.b_?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @proud_to_be_slp | https://instagram.com/proud_to_be_slp?utm_medium=copy_link | ||||||||||||||||||||
| @falqarnous | https://instagram.com/falqarnous?utm_medium=copy_link |