A Social-Psychological Study on the Impact of Short Video Platform Algorithms on Adolescents' Self-Identity Construction

Abstract

With the rapid development of mobile internet and short video platforms, artificial intelligence algorithmic recommendations are reshaping adolescents' information exposure pathways and self-identity logic. Adolescents are in a dynamic phase of constructing their values, identity awareness, and psychological structure. In the process of information distribution guided by ‘interest matching,’ algorithmic recommendations have gradually formed an identity mechanism characterised by entertainment, labelling, and segmentation. This paper examines the mechanisms and potential risks of algorithmic recommendations in the construction of self-identity among adolescents from a social psychological perspective. The study found that the content ecosystem of short video platforms reinforces adolescents' interest labels and value preferences through algorithms, inducing them to form fragmented self-perceptions and labelled identity recognition, which in turn leads to instability in individual identity and ambiguity in social belonging. In the context of incomplete individual development, adolescents are prone to losing their ability to actively construct their self-identity in the face of personalised algorithmic recommendations, instead passively accepting the rigid roles shaped by the platform, thereby exacerbating identity anxiety among adolescents. Based on this, this paper proposes establishing intervention mechanisms across family education, school guidance, and platform governance to create a diverse and open information environment, enhance teenagers' media literacy and psychological resilience, and promote the healthy, rational, and autonomous development of their self-identity.