Abstract
<p>The rapid proliferation of algorithmic feed architectures has fundamentally altered how information is curated, consumed, and internalized by contemporary digital users. We conducted a qualitative study of 42 young adults (aged 18–28) using semi-structured interviews and digital ethnography across major social media platforms. We propose the notion of algorithmic pedagogy: the process by which automated content-selection systems function as an informal, invisible curriculum that shapes cognitive habits and knowledge-seeking behaviors through continuous feedback loops. Our findings suggest that rather than expanding intellectual horizons, these systems enforce a restrictive cognitive environment where user agency is paradoxically diminished through the very mechanisms designed to optimize engagement. We find that algorithmic curation drives habitual consumption, normalizes reactive information processing, fragments complex knowledge into bite-sized signals, and commodifies user attention through affective calibration. These results indicate that the architecture of digital platforms acts as a powerful, albeit subtle, agent of socialization that mandates a re-evaluation of how we conceptualize digital literacy and cognitive autonomy in an era of automated information delivery.</p>