‘Google this!’ How performative links and search engines organise information disorders in a climate obstruction network

Abstract

In recent years, information disorders, including on environmental issues, have grown in strength and influence, making research involving detailed analyses of how they are organised increasingly important. This article focuses on a Swedish climate obstruction network and investigates the keyphrases (search queries) they suggest people should google. An analysis of keyphrases suggested between 2014 and 2022 on the network's blog and in other publications shows how these suggestions function akin to hyperlinks in organising an alternative media ecosystem. The article introduces the idea of ‘performative links’ as a way to conceptualise how strategically recommended keyphrases operationalise data voids. Performative links encourage users to ‘do their own research’ by suggesting specific keyphrases as search queries. They connect the technical properties of web search engines with society's demands for individual responsibility and media and information literacy, and they help to promote data voids and feeds into information disorders. The analysis of the keyphrases suggested by the studied climate obstruction network focuses on how these keyphrases are composed, where they are published, how they spread, and what search results and thus information they result in. The findings indicate that performative links are crucial in controlling cross-media alternative media ecosystems. They exploit ideological dialects to construct and maintain data voids but also amplify the climate obstruction message and its reach. The article concludes by emphasising the need for more research on information disorders across different media and platforms, as well as the potential risks associated with performative links and data voids.