IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/abq/mccss1/v4y2025i2p79-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Algorithmic Amplification and Youth Political Engagement on TikTok: A Study of Political Discourse, Engagement, and Gendered Interactions in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Shahid Hussain

    (Government College University, Lahore)

Abstract

This study investigates how TikTok's algorithmic design shapes political discourse, engagement dynamics, and gendered participation in Pakistan’s digital youth sphere. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed 500 politically relevant TikTok videos collected between April 1 and May 15, 2025, based on hashtags like #PakistanPolitics, #ImranKhan, and #Election2024. The content was coded for thematic type, tone, engagement metrics, and rhetorical style. Leader-centered content accounted for 42% of the sample, while 38% was issue-based, and 13% focused on electoral mobilization. Meme-based or trending-sound formats received 64% more likes and 71% more shares than traditional commentary. Videos referencing Imran Khan and PTI attracted significantly more engagement than those related to PML-N or PPP. Female creators, though underrepresented (32%), garnered higher average comments per video; however, a notable portion of these comments contained gendered stereotypes. The findings underscore how TikTok’s algorithm amplifies certain political narratives and engagement patterns, reinforcing digital echo chambers and gendered discourse. This study contributes to growing literature on algorithmic politics in Global South contexts and offers policy-level insights for ensuring equitable and transparent digital participation.

Suggested Citation

Handle: RePEc:abq:mccss1:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:79-90
as

Download full text from publisher

File URL: https://journal.50sea.com/index.php/MC/article/view/1549/2085
Download Restriction: no
File URL: https://journal.50sea.com/index.php/MC/article/view/1549
Download Restriction: no
---><---

More about this item

Keywords

;
;
;
;
;
;
;

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:abq:mccss1:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:79-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Shehzad Hassan (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.