Linguistic Re-Concealment in the Age of Platformization: The Impact of Algorithmic Recommendation on Cognitive Stabilization Mechanisms

Abstract

In the era of platformization, algorithmic recommendation systems have not only transformed the efficiency of information distribution but also profoundly reshaped human linguistic environments and cognitive structures. Grounded in the cognitive stabilization mechanism proposed in Knowing and Speaking, this paper constructs a three-dimensional interactive framework of ‘media environment–algorithmic logic–cognitive structure’ to systematically reveal how algorithmic recommendation deconstructs the stabilization of human cognition through a triple mechanism, thereby leading to the ‘re-concealment effect’. The study finds that, in the temporal dimension, endless scrolling and high-frequency refreshing compress cognitive thresholds, preventing concepts from settling and making knowledge structures increasingly superficial. In the spatial dimension, personalized distribution builds information cocoons and filter bubbles, dissolving shared consensus and producing cognitive isolation. In the affective dimension, traffic logic assigns higher weight to polarized content, allowing emotion to override reason and making public discourse increasingly emotionalized. The interweaving of these three mechanisms ultimately appears as cognitive reduction at the individual level, echo-chamber polarization at the group level, and a profound epistemological crisis
at the societal level. To respond to this crisis, this paper proposes a path of cognitive awakening beyond algorithmic control from three dimensions: public scrutiny of algorithms, the introduction of slow media and asynchronous deliberation mechanisms, and the elevation of digital literacy.