Algorithmic Visibility and the Evolution of Political Communication: An Evolutionary Framing Perspective on the Post-Arab Spring

• Mohanad S S Abumandil

  Tourism and Wellness University of Malaysia Kelantan.

  Author

  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0121-306X

• Ahmed Aish

  Tourism and Wellness University of Malaysia Kelantan.

  Author

  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2928-7167

• Akram Alloh

  University Utara Malaysia

  Author

  https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7788-6694

• Ahmed Muayad Younus

  LUTC University, Malaysia

  Author

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5686-3505

The Arab Spring uprisings (2010‑2012) represented a turning point in both Middle Eastern politics and global media communication. While extensive research has examined how institutional news agencies framed these events – particularly the 2011 Egyptian Revolution – the subsequent transformation of media framing processes has received less attention. This article proposes an Evolutionary Framing Model that distinguishes three interconnected phases: institutional framing (newsroom‑centered gatekeeping), participatory framing (citizen and activist‑driven narratives on social media), and algorithmic framing (platform‑driven visibility shaped by recommendation systems and engagement metrics). Drawing on classical framing theory (Entman, 1993; Goffman, 1974), hybrid media systems scholarship (Chadwick, 2017), and recent research on digital activism and algorithmic governance (Gillespie, 2018; Tufekci, 2017), the article argues that political communication in the post‑Arab Spring Middle East has shifted from centralized journalistic authority toward distributed, contested, and increasingly platform‑mediated visibility regimes. The model offers a conceptual framework for analyzing contemporary political narratives in the region and suggests empirical research directions.

1. Mohanad S S Abumandil, Tourism and Wellness University of Malaysia Kelantan.

   A Faculty of Hospitality

2. Ahmed Aish, Tourism and Wellness University of Malaysia Kelantan.

   A Faculty of Hospitality 

3. Akram Alloh, University Utara Malaysia
   School of Business 
4. Ahmed Muayad Younus, LUTC University, Malaysia
   Postgraduate Centre (PGC) 

Al‑Malki, A., Kaufer, D., Ishizaki, S., & Dreher, K. (2012). Arab women in Arab news: Old stereotypes and new media. Bloomsbury.

Alloh, A. (2014). Framing the Egyptian revolution: A comparative content analysis of Reuters, Maan News Agency and BERNAMA [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Al‑Rawi, A., & Iskandar, A. (2022). News coverage of the Arab Spring: State‑run news agencies as discursive propagators of news. Digital Journalism, 10(8), 1345‑1362.

Amsalem, E., & Zoizner, A. (2022). Do people learn from political news? A meta‑analysis of framing effects. Communication Research, 49(5), 667‑694.

Badr, H. (2021). Before the ‘Arab Spring’: How challengers pushed counter‑issues in Egypt’s hybrid media system. Media, War & Conflict, 14(4), 522‑541.

Bennett, W. L. (1990). Toward a theory of press‑state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication, 40(2), 103‑127.

Bozdag, E., & van den Hoven, J. (2015). Breaking the filter bubble: Democracy and design. Ethics and Information Technology, 17(4), 249‑265.

Camaj, L. (2010). Media framing through stages of political discourse: International news agencies coverage of Kosovo’s status negotiations. International Communication Gazette, 72(7), 635‑653.

Chadwick, A. (2017). The hybrid media system: Politics and power (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Dimitrova, D. V., & Strömbäck, J. (2012). Election news in Sweden and the United States: A comparative study of sources and media frames. Journalism, 13(5), 604‑619.

El‑Nawawy, M., & Elmasry, M. H. (2021). Revolutionary Egypt in the eyes of the Muslim Brotherhood: A framing analysis of Ikhwanweb. Rowman & Littlefield.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51‑58.

Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five misunderstandings about case‑study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219‑245.

Garcia‑Perdomo, V. (2024). Framing theory and media frames in the third decade of the 21st century: A systematic review. European Journal of Communication, 39(2), 210‑228.

Gillespie, T. (2018). Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media. Yale University Press.

Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Harvard University.

Hamdy, N., & Gomaa, E. (2012). Framing the Egyptian uprising in Arabic language newspapers and social media. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 195‑211.

Harb, Z. (2021). Lebanon’s October revolution and the role of social media. In M. Khoueiry (Ed.), Media and political change in the Arab world (pp. 89‑106). I.B. Tauris.

Ismail, S. M. A. (2025). Managing visibility under constraint: Telegram, TikTok, and the platformization of wartime messaging (2023‑24). Arab Media & Society, (39). https://doi.org/10.70090/AMS.39isma

King, G. (2023). The digital authoritarianism in the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.

Kligler‑Vilenchik, N., & Thorson, K. (2016). Good citizenship as a frame contest: The case of youth and the 2012 US election. International Journal of Communication, 10, 21‑40.

Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2021). The elements of journalism (4th ed.). Crown.

Koziner, N. (2021). Frame building research: An integrated methodological model. Communication & Society, 34(1), 45‑60.

Lecheler, S., & De Vreese, C. H. (2019). News framing effects. Routledge.

Lynch, M., Freelon, D., & Aday, S. (2014). Blogs and bullets II: New media and conflict after the Arab Spring. United States Institute of Peace.

Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Affective publics: Sentiment, technology, and politics. Oxford University Press.

Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. Penguin.

Rathje, S., Van Bavel, J. J., & van der Linden, S. (2021). Out‑group animosity drives engagement on social media. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(26), e2024292118.

Reich, Z. (2009). Sourcing the news: Key issues in journalism. Hampton Press.

Rieder, B. (2020). Engines of order: A mechanology of algorithmic techniques. Amsterdam University.

Semetko, H. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93‑109.

Shoemaker, P., & Vos, T. (2009). Gatekeeping theory. Routledge.

Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and tear gas: The power and fragility of networked protest. Yale University.

van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The platform society: Public values in a connective world. Oxford University Press.

Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359(6380), 1146‑1151.

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications (6th ed.). Sage.

Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism. PublicAffairs.

• Research Article - PDF

Copyright (c) 2026 AJSI Journal

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

This journal uses a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Authors retain copyright, and readers may share and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given, a link to the license is included, and any changes are indicated.