Documentation, Informaiton & Knowledge ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 156-166.doi: 10.13366/j.dik.2025.02.156

• Intelligence, Information & Sharing • Previous Articles    

Algorithmic Recommendation, Information Cocoon and the "Disappearance of the Nearby"

GUO Yajun, LI Tianxiang, FENG Siqian, LIU Kunfeng   

  1. School of Information Management, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou, 450046
  • Online:2025-03-10 Published:2025-05-03
  • Contact: Correspondence should be addressed to GUO Yajun, Email: guoyajun0619@126.com, ORCID: 0000-0001-8441-3328
  • Supported by:
    This is an outcome of the Youth Project "Research on the Path to Realization of Information Equity for the Recessive Digital Vulnerable Groups in the Algorithmic Distribution Environment"(22CTQ038)supported by National Social Science Foundation of China.

Abstract: [Purpose/Significance] The excessive development and application of algorithmic recommendation technology in digital-intelligent era has intensified the information cocoon and triggered the "disappearance of the nearby". The research and deciphering of this phenomenon can provide references for regulating algorithmic technology,optimizing users' information behavior and improving the social environment. [Design/Methodology] This study adopts a progressive structure, metaphorically referred to as "spinning a cocoon" "breaking the cocoon" and "becoming a butterfly", to examine the stage dilemma encountered by the user subject in the hazard response of "algorithmic recommendation—information cocoon—disappearance of the nearby". Additionally, it proposes targeted strategies to break the information cocoon and reproduce "the nearby". [Findings/Conclusion] In the process of "spinning a cocoon", users encounter a series of challenges, including "the dilemma of cyberspace of role degradation—the dilemma of conceptual cognition of thinking solidification—the dilemma of real life of emotional desalination". To "breaking the cocoon", it is essential to emphasize the subjective status of users in the algorithm-driven society, and improve their algorithm literacy from the algorithm cognition,algorithm skill and algorithm specification. "Becoming a butterfly" should integrate the three paths of self-awakening, virtual and real symbiosis and technological goodness to achieve pioneering changes and reproduce "the nearby". [Originality/Value] From the perspective of the discipline of Information Resource Management (IRM), this study explores the relationship between algorithmic recommendation,information cocoon and the social phenomenon of "disappearance of the nearby", and seeks the path to solve the problem,so as to contribute disciplinary wisdom and solutions to the healthy functioning and coordinated development of society.

Keywords: Information behavior, Algorithmic recommendation, Information cocoon, Disappearance of the nearby