Social media plays a significant role in our lives today. For many, it is part of the daily routine and an essential way to communicate, express their opinions, shop, and even check the news.

The rise of social media has also enabled several creative thinkers, writers, and artists to use different platforms to share their viewpoints with the world.

We spoke to a well-known blogger and writer in Qatar Hadeel Ghassan to learn more about how she spreads positivity through her blog.

The Palestinian Jordanian has a Master’s in Comparative Literature from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Hadeel, who was raised in Qatar and spent her life here, started her blogging journey on social media in 2011.

It started with her sharing her diaries on Facebook.

“I was not posting any of my pictures on social media yet, but the only thing I was sharing, was what I felt, depending on my daily experience,” Hadeel recalled.

“I was writing in a way to express my personal feelings, and I knew that many people would relate, because I was writing about my happiness, sadness, my disappointments and this is the typical life for anyone,” she said.

Her facebook page had over 200k followers in the beginning, after which she decided to set up an account on Instagram.

“By this time, I believed that I could share not only my writings but also my pictures. Step by step, I found myself having a huge number of fans and people to support me because they really can relate to what I write on my blog,” Hadeel said.

With her passion for reading and writing, Hadeel initiated the reading circles as the founder of the reading club at Qatar University, during her bachelor’s journey.

She would pick a book for each gathering, and ask all the members to read the book. This was followed by a group discussion.

It has been several years since Hadeel established the reading club, but she remembers the time clearly. She says the circles began with about five people and grew to 100 by the time she graduated.

Later, she said she decided to use her blog to advance the reading circles and asked her followers if they would like to participate in these. The massive interest and engagement from her followers led her to hold the reading circles on the ground.

With the present situation, she quickly found a way to continue these circles.

“COVID-19 does not stop me from scheduling my reading circles. In fact, social media made it much easier,” she said.

"I started to host many of the well-known authors on my blog after I asked my followers to read their books. So, this was encouraging people to join my live videos to ask the authors about the secrets of their books,” she explained.

Hadeel’s main aim is to share real-life experiences and advice without exaggeration. This is why she started to blog about her experience with pregnancy and motherhood.

“It takes huge courage to write about your experience, but the real courage is to share it with everyone publicly,” she said.

“After my experience with pregnancy, I found that everything I watched on social media does not reflect my experience, it was holding only the perfectionism, without ant other sides, that is why I started to blog about the real life of being pregnant,” she said.

“I was posting everything I felt without faking it, I knew there is a lot of pregnant moms out there needs the truth about this period,” she added.

When other mothers started to share their stories with Hadeel, she realized the importance of always being real.

“I never hesitate to share my weaknesses, and to benefit others from my real experience without faking it,” she said.

Hadeel said she used to watch most of the pregnant women on social media, wearing nice clothes and looking very good.

“But this is not what happened with me, this affected me so much at the beginning and I started to feel that the world is not real, and I began to think that there is something wrong with me. That was the moment I decided to share my true experience so every new mother could benefit from it,” she described.

“Blogging does not only help my followers but has also helped me so much to heal by sharing my feelings,” Hadeel said.

She says two main things she has learned as a blogger is that “words that you write from your heart, will reach everyone’s heart.”

“There is a story behind every picture I posted on my platform, every word I wrote, and everything I shared was going directly from my heart to each of my follower’s hearts,” she added.

Secondly, she said especially for the youth, they should not compare their lives to what they see on social media.

“Just focus on your well-being, and make yourself a priority to achieve your dreams.,” she advised.

To know more about the blogger Hadeel Ghassan, you can check her blog on Instagram @hadeeelghassan.

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