Disability and social media: Analysis of special education professionals’ accounts on Instagram

análise de perfis de profissionais da educação especial no Instagram

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22484/2177-5788.2025v51id5568

Keywords:

Special education, disability, social media

Abstract

Social media have become a resource that allows teachers to connect with other educational experts and enhance their professional development. The objective of this study is to analyse posts which special education specialists share on Instagram. Through a content analysis of 300 publications belonging to 20 Latin American and Anglo-Saxon accounts, the characteristics and functionalities of this social network and its purpose of use are examined. The results show that specialists use this platform for educational and professional purposes, but also for promotional and commercial reasons, suggesting to others to purchase their own didactic products, or asking their followers to sign up for their training courses. Consequently, Instagram allows specialists to generate learning and interaction communities in the field of special education, sharing didactic resources and specialised information, while also conditioning professionals to produce commercial logics specific to the platform.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Mónica Bonilla-del-Río, Universidad de Cantabria

PhD in Communication (University of Huelva). Graduated in Teaching of Pre-School Education at the University of Cantabria (Spain). She studied a Master in Emotional, Social and Creativity Education in the University of Cantabria. She studied a Master in Communication and Audiovisual Education at the Internacional University of Andalucia. Nowadays, she is Proffesor at Universidad de Cantabria (Santander). Her research focuses on digital and social inclusion of people with disability, media literacy, social media and educommunication.

Iván Sánchez-López, Universidad de Alicante

Iván Sánchez-López combines research with professional practice in the field of digital storytelling and narrative. In May 2020 he defended his Thesis under the title "Narratives in the digital era: storytelling mediations and creative empowerment in generation Z" in the Interuniversity Interuniversity Doctoral Program in Communication of the Universities of Huelva, University of Seville, University of Malaga and University of Malaga, University of Seville, University of Malaga and University of Cadiz. He holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication by the UAB, Master in Creative Documentary by the UAB and Master in Communication and Education on the in Communication and Education on the Net by the UNED, in the framework of which he developed the TFM on the digital narrative avant-garde "Counters of Chaos" [accessible through the link www.contadoresdelcaos.com]. Professionally, he has held various positions in the media (film, television and radio), being for the last three years the director of communication and digital storytelling of the International digital narrative of the International Youth Organization for Ibero-America (www.oij.org). Member of the Euramerican Interuniversity Network Alfamed and the Agora Research Group.

Amor Pérez-Rodríguez, Universidad de Huelva

Full Professor at the University of Huelva (Spain), expert in Media Literacy and the didactics of Language and Literature. She has developed a teaching and research career linked to education and communication. She teaches on the Teaching Degree and on the Master's Degree in Secondary Education, the Master's Degree in European Literature and Language Teaching, and the Master's Degree in Communication and Audiovisual Education, as well as on the Inter-University Doctorate Programme in Communication. As a researcher in the Ágora Research Group (Andalusian Research Plan: HUM-648), and Alfamed network, and Comunicar Group she has participated in different projects, both in national and international calls. Her research and publications focus on the development of media literacy, new narratives in the digital context and their integration in the curriculum in general and in the area of Spanish Language and Literature in particular. He has published several books in relevant publishing houses in the field of communication and education.

Elizabeth-Guadalupe Rojas-Estrada, Universidad de Huelva

Fellow of the National Council for the Humanities, Sciences and Technology (CONAHCYT-Mexico). PhD student in the Inter-University Communication Programme in the field of Educommunication and Media Literacy at the University of Huelva. MA in Communication from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile) and BA in Communication from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (Mexico). Member of the AGCID Alumni Network for Social Innovation, pre-doctoral researcher in the ‘Ágora’ Research Group (HUM-648), and President of the Young Alfamed Network, which brings together young researchers in the field of media literacy. Her main research focuses on the relationship between media literacy and the educational curriculum, with a focus on Latin America.

Downloads

Published

2025-05-30

How to Cite

BONILLA-DEL-RÍO, Mónica; SÁNCHEZ-LÓPEZ, Iván; PÉREZ-RODRÍGUEZ, Amor; ROJAS-ESTRADA, Elizabeth-Guadalupe. Disability and social media: Analysis of special education professionals’ accounts on Instagram : análise de perfis de profissionais da educação especial no Instagram. Revista de Estudos Universitários - REU, Sorocaba, SP, v. 51, p. e025001, 2025. DOI: 10.22484/2177-5788.2025v51id5568. Disponível em: https://uniso.emnuvens.com.br/reu/article/view/5568. Acesso em: 17 jun. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 51 (2025): Dossiê: Cultura midiática e crítica da violência: denúncia, resistência e emancipação

Section

Artigos Livres

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Revista de Estudos Universitários - REU

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A responsabilidade sobre o conteúdo das publicações são total e exclusiva dos autores, que mantêm os direitos autorais e atribuem o direito de primeira publicação para a REU - Revista de Estudos Universitários.  Ao submeter o artigo, o(s) autor(es) garante(m) que ele não contém nenhuma violação de quaisquer direitos autorias.