How Google Legitimises Its Symbolic Power

Milwaukee.
The next speaker at AoIR 2009 is Kylie Jarrett, who moves on to problematising Google and its 'don't be evil' motto. There is a sense of disquiet about the absolute symbolic power enjoyed by the company at this point, but there are also many defensive responses as so many people are very attached to it. What is the source of this belief in Google?

Symbolic power needs to be legitimated, and Google attempts this by outlining its core principles on its site: focus on the user and all else will follow, do one thing really well, fast is better than slow, democracy on the Web works, people don't need to be at their desk to need an answer, it's possible to make money without being evil, there's always more information out there, great isn't good enough, etc.

Similarly, there is a spirit of capitalism, an ideology that justifies engagement in capitalism, and it is possible to show that these justifications emerge from criticism - such justification may include the provision of moral foundations, the production of constraints, and the identification of (non)justifiable activity. Here as well as in similar cases, there is a vision of a harmonious figure of natural order, positing an ideal activity or state of dignity; there are rolemodels for greatness (and for smallness); objects, subjects, and relations are identified; and a format of investment in the system is outlined.

For example, in a project-oriented context in the workplace, the network is positioned as the natural order; connecting, continuous projects, and the expansion of the network is positioned as the ideal activity; to be connected and active is seen as the state of dignity for the person in the workplace; to be a responsive mediator means to have attained greatness; informal, temporary connections and projects, and trust, are the objects, subjects, and relations in this environment; and this is achieved through a loss of authority and stability (the format of investment).

This can be easily translated to Google, then, which (with its aim to organise the world's information) is itself network-oriented, of course. Kylie demonstrates how this is visible in the core principles stated by Google - again, the network provides the harmonious principle, and keeping the network open is a sign of greatness, and the format of investment means to keep improving, investing, and trying, in collaboration with its users. This draws down and mobilises a particular value system and symbolic order, which Kylie says is associated with the neoliberal movement (and of course, Google achieves some of these aims in our everyday experience, too!).

As we start thinking more about the way of critiquing such phenomena, however, we may also come to think differently about Google.

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