The link has died; long live the link! Cross-platform controversy mapping with the use of URL links

The study of URL link dissemination was popular in the early days of Web 2.0; however, with the rise of platformization, this approach to researching the web has largely been abandoned. While internet studies have since focused on aspects like the epistemologies of search engines, hashtags, and Google Ads, the use of URL links as a means to study public debates has not been revisited. This article demonstrates the continued relevance of URL links for examining cross-platform controversies, treating links as traceable digital objects through which the influence of platform infrastructures becomes visible, using the debate over the construction of a canal through the Vistula Spit in Poland—which unfolded over nearly a decade on Facebook and Twitter (now X). Based on an analysis of 37,995 Facebook posts and 26,4821 tweets, this study shows that URL links can still serve as reliable controversy indicators, but in platform-specific ways: on Twitter, links foreground political sentiment and polarization, while on Facebook, links foreground protest mobilization and local organization. Second, it shows that these differences can be explained by platform affordances, which structure not only the circulation of content but also its meaning within controversies, demonstrating how digital infrastructures shape the ways in which participants engage with contested issues in socio-technical environments. Third, it argues for a methodological return to URL link analysis as a valuable tool for cross-platform controversy mapping, showing that link-based traces make it possible to study how debates unfold across platforms without relying exclusively on discursive analysis, bridging early digital methods with contemporary studies of platformization and CSCW research on socio-technical systems and platform affordances.