When The Algorithm Becomes The Public

Abstract

This study examines the structural transformation of public opinion under the mounting hegemony of recommendation algorithms over digital information flows. It advances the argument that social media algorithms have moved well beyond their original function as content-organising tools to become structural socio-political agents that reconstruct public opinion according to a commercial engagement logic fundamentally at odds with communicative rationality. The research employs a mixed-methods design that integrates quantitative content analysis of 240 multi-platform digital posts with 25 in-depth academic interviews drawn from five Arab countries. This is complemented by a systematic critical review of sixteen peer-reviewed Algerian scholarly studies addressing digital public opinion dynamics, published between 2017 and 2025. The findings converge on three structural patterns: emotionally polarising content consistently achieves engagement rates between 38 and 51 percent higher than analytical material; public opinion fragments along platform lines, generating mutually exclusive discursive environments; and the Algerian digital sphere exhibits a distinctive triple constraint of algorithmic dependency, self-censorship, and a structural deficit in Arabic-language fact-checking infrastructure. Theoretically, the study contributes a six-property concept of the Algorithmic Public Sphere and offers a practical framework for reclaiming informational sovereignty.