Latest Articles

​​​This study examines virtual public reactions on X regarding BRICS expansion to include three Arab countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It uses a deep learning approach for sentiment analysis to understand reactions expressed by individuals in the 22 Arab League countries. The study aims to understand public opinion towards this expansion and assess how it was received at the bottom-internal level. Given the difficulty of measuring public opinion in non-democratic contexts, the study tracks public reaction to the expansion on X. Tweets from August 24, 2023, to January 7, 2024, are analyzed. The methodology involves collecting a large dataset of tweets, cleansing and tokenizing the data, and attributing sentiment scores using specialized Arabic text-processing tools. The results are presented through data visualization and machine learning models, ensuring a comprehensive analysis while addressing ethical considerations. The findings indicate that public sentiment is predominantly neutral (38.91%), compared to positive (31.72%) and negative (30.09%). This highlight concerns about education, political disengagement, and the technical limitations of applying a data science approach to political science research. It also suggests the inherent challenges of using this method to reflect internalization or engagement in the way surveys and referenda can.​

This study aims primarily to examine the phenomenon of populism in American politics by focusing on the case of former President Donald Trump's populism (2017 - 2021). It also seeks to trace the historical roots of populism in America. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the key aspects of populism in Trump's rhetoric by researching and analyzing the main factors that contributed to the rise of populism with Trump's presidency in the United States. The study utilizes an analytical approach to observe the aspects of populism in Trump's discourse and analyze the factors that contributed to its rise. Content analysis technique is employed to analyze Trump's political speeches, in addition to using a historical approach to present the historical background of populist movements in the United States. The study concludes that there are several aspects of populism evident in Trump's political discourse. It also finds that there are a variety of factors that contributed to the escalation of populism with Trump's rise to power, including the ramifications of globalization, the impact of certain Republican Party rules, and notably, the Tea Party movement and right-wing populist groups.

​​This essay argues for a paradigm shift in the study of the Internet and digital/social media. Big data analytics is the dominant paradigm. It receives large amounts of funding, is administrative and a form of digital positivism. Critical social media research is an alternative approach that combines critical social media theory, critical digital methods and critical-realist social media research ethics. Strengthening the second approach is a material question of power in academia.