Visual Public Relations in Middle Eastern Higher Education: Content Analysis of Twitter Images

Abstract

Researchers conducted a content analysis of 537 Twitter images posted by Kuwait University, King Saud University of Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates University to examine how public universities in the Middle East use social media to promote their agenda. Researchers analyzed prominent topics and democracy frames featured in the Twitter images and the structural characteristics of those images. The analysis shows significant differences between the three universities in terms of the most prominent topic category and democracy frame. A significantly higher proportion of the Twitter images posted by Kuwait University featured educational and political topic categories. The analysis of democracy frames shows that these public universities often used their social media channels to promote the respective government’s political agenda.