The Algorithm Feeds and Passenger Mode

To opt out or not to opt out? That is the question. 

Or should it be to opt in or not to opt in? 

Discussions about the Albanese Government’s “opt out of algorithms scheme” have been capturing headlines this week. It is a hotly contested space with big tech companies agitating to maintain the status quo; others worried about the impact to their small businesses that rely on algorithms to help reach their target markets; many delighted to have a cleaner social media feed; and educators hoping it will keep their students safer in a rapidly evolving social media landscape. 

Personally, I like the idea that may be less noise on social media partly because it is such a distraction! Social media is a battleground for my attention, and I can easily spend an inordinate amount of time (if I don’t exert significant willpower) doom scrolling and clicking links to products, fad diets, and dodgy health advice that will send me down a rabbit hole.  

The problem is that the good stuff - the interesting things I might want to learn more about or explore further - are lost amongst the noise.  

What must it be like for a child or young adult, whose pre-frontal cortex is still developing, to be faced with all that noise and competition for their attention? If it is sometimes exhausting for us as adults, and we can lose minutes or hours winding down various rabbit holes online, then imagine what it does for our students.  

In my last two blogposts I have been exploring the four modes of engagement as presented in The Disengaged Teen by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop. This week, considering the current discussions about algorithms, it is pertinent to focus in on the question of attention, what competes for the attention of our children and how this impacts engagement.  

Imagine your child is in “Passenger Mode”, stuck permanently (it seems) in cruise control. I love this description of passengers provided by Anderson and Winthrop: 

…coasting along in neutral and not willing to put the car in gear. Passenger mode is characterised by bare-minimum, surface level engagement. Kids in this mode go through the motions. They turn up, do their homework - though usually not well - and appear happy to just skate by. They are complying, which means they are behaviourally engaged…but they are not emotionally or cognitively engaged. For these kids the general reaction to school is “Meh”. They are passive participants in their education. They may have a few select classes or activities that get them really jazzed, while others completely shut them down. (30) 

Does that sound familiar?  

Let me add another ingredient that may resonate for you: often we hear kids in passenger mode say “school is boring”. This is their default tagline. 

I can visualise and hear the voices of students that I have taught over the years who are quintessential passengers. A number of them were boys although not all, but often boys are more visibly in passenger mode than girls. Kids in passenger mode are often thinking: “what’s the point of this” as they sit in class or wondering what “I need to do to look cool so I can hang out with that group at school”. Their attention is definitely wavering and ripe for the picking, so to speak. 

I suspect a number of parents are nodding their heads as they read this and looking sideways at the teenager sitting beside them. Or wondering if that nagging feeling that their child is really doing “just enough” is validated. 

Being in passenger mode can be important for all of us, including teenagers, because we can’t be always on and deeply engaged all the time.  

The danger for us is not recognising when our child is in passenger mode. When children are in passenger mode their attention is currency. If they have a phone or a computer with them, and free time, that device can be the trigger for their interest. Anderson and Winthrop share that interests are developed through four stages.  

1. First, they are triggered by situational interest (literally something grabs our attention).  
2. Second, we become curious and maintain our focus on whatever has grabbed our interest because we want to “resolve our curiosity” (p. 49)  
3. Third, it becomes an emerging personal interest, and we start returning to the idea or object that sparked our interest by choice and without anyone prompting us. At this point we often want more information, and we seek out others to help us get it. 
4. Fourth, our personal interest becomes well-developed. It becomes part of who we are (our identity) and we create our own questions and pursue mastery. 

You can see how this correlates with the ideal vision of learning in the classroom. For students in passenger mode, the key is to trigger their interest (as a teacher or parent) to spark a shift in engagement. 

But and this is a big but, if there is no adult or reasoned voice to moderate this interest other than the latest algorithmic social media feed on their devices, what grabs their attention and therefore what they click can drive their curiosity and questions in a particular direction.  

This happens to all of us when we take time out to chill and move into passenger mode and start doom scrolling. This is the rabbit hole - our very own Alice in Wonderland moment - as we become curiouser and curiouser and click on one link after another.  

Whether it is adults, teenagers or children, once our attention is grabbed and our feed becomes curated, we lose some of our agency to take back control of our own learning and the ability to foster a deeper curiosity that comes with exposure to diverse perspectives.  

Anderson and Winthrop share that Passenger Mode is the most prevalent one amongst teenagers in schools. We recognise it as that apathy that drives us mad! In the age of social media, the risk is that in those passenger mode moments teenagers turn to the phone in their pocket and their attention is grabbed by whatever jumps into their feed.  

To opt in or out is an important question.  

The even more important question, though, is how we ensure young people see the value and purpose of what and how they are learning. How do we ensure our classrooms and dining room tables are spaces where interests are sparked through dialogue? How do we ensure that when there is an inkling of curiosity among our children that we lean into it and cultivate it? Feed the beast so to speak! If we can feed our children’s curiosity to such an extent that they don’t want to put that book down or stop talking about that idea, then we will see their identify shift from that of a passenger to being an explorer.  

When the beast is fed, then they have the wherewithal to opt in to algorithms that will nurture their curiosity and passions and opt out of those that cause them and others harm. 

References: 

Anderson, Jenny, and Rebecca Winthrop. The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better. Vermilion, 2025.