Framing the Kuwaiti National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature on Instagram: A Communication Problem and PR Challenge

Corporate communicators and public relations (PR) practitioners strongly believe that social media have changed the way communication is practiced in cultural organizations. Previous research found cultural organizations remain trialing with social media, narrowing their uses for promotional and informational purposes. This study aims to add Kuwait to de-Westernize the literature in PR and communication management. Using Instagram and the Kuwaiti National Council for Culture, Arts, and Literature (NCCAL), this mixed method study aims to understand how this cultural institution utilizes this social media platform, how it visually frames its communication, and whether its utilization of Instagram reflects a strategic approach in communication management. The findings show that most posts are about past events that provide media coverage in the form of photographs, followed by posts about future activities in the form of graphic images and with the aim of information dissemination. The findings also show that the NCCAL mainly employed the cultural authority frame, the promotion frame, and the human-interest frame. Further statistical analyses showed significant relationships where the cultural authority frame was statistically salient with posts of past events in photographic form and the promotion frame was statistically salient with posts of upcoming events in graphic design form. The findings suggest a relatively non-strategic approach of the NCCAL’s management of Instagram, requiring an organizational need for the NCCAL to diversify its communication strategies, hence, frames and content. The findings also provide theoretical and practical implications for PR practitioners in relations to social media management in cultural organizations.