Digital Rhetoric

The term, "digital rhetoric" was first coined by Richard Lanham in his essay, “Digital Rhetoric and the Digital Arts” (1992), and later reintroduced by Elizabeth Losh in Virtualpolitik (2009) (Eyman 8). As Douglas Eyman describes it, however, digital rhetoric is an "interdisciplinary field" constituting a mesh of subjects, such as rhetoric and writing, composition, digital game studies, literacy studies, new media studies, and Internet studies (Eyman 11). "Digital rhetoric” has been applied in "social media, online discussion forums, website design, and multimodal composition", to name a few (Eyman 9). One example is the way websites incorporate big and bold fonts to catch your attention. Another example of digital rhetoric in action are music videos such as "This is America" by Childish Gambino, which was first uploaded on YouTube. It mostly targeted educated, young people. Through the use of visuals and sound effects, as well as song lyrics, the video was loaded with a lot of political and social commentary. The Black Lives Matter Movement protests were spurred because of viral videos that dominated media outlets like Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

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Rhetoric is the art of writing and speaking persuasively and effectively. Therefore, digital rhetoric can be defined as the application of rhetoric through digital media. Douglas Eyman who is the Director of the PhD in Writing and Rhetoric, used the term digital rhetoric to describe a medium that can intertwine various interdisciplinary departments of communications. In his text we read more of his understanding to this term and that even though digital rhetoric is better known in departments of communication studies or English studies it is also being applied in other fields of studies (Eyman 2).

Digital rhetoric has been applied to rhetoric's technology such as social media use, network rhetorics, website design and the study of new media. This refers through the use of documentaries or news channels which are used to inform the public. As we are seeing the vast growth of technology, we can also see its use and the scope of digital rhetoric. It can be observed through online schooling, scholarly journals, podcasts, and social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. These different platforms and modes allow millions of people to connect through digital rhetoric.

The connection is just the first step of what technology now offers. From that connection they are able to communicate, influence, alter each other’s viewpoints on various subjects. Individuals participate in digital rhetoric by updating a simple Facebook post or by creating a limited 280 character Tweet (Crossfield). Digital rhetoric does have some downsides such as misinformation. Since anyone can create and participate in digital rhetoric, it leaves rooms for misleading information and/or inaccurate information (Fleitz). Buzzfeed, which is a popular information site, determined that between the months of August through November of 2016 had the largest engagement in inaccurate news via social media. Another 2016 poll showed that 64% of Americans believe that fake news is becoming a problem. They state that it is causing a great deal of confusion on what news is real and what is fake. It is such an issue that there are many website and blogs dedicated to assisting users in identifying fake information.

Some suggestions include identifying the site’s domain, the about page, contact us link and when the site was last updated (Fleitz). A variety of professionals implement digital rhetoric in the workplace as well. For example activists, political leaders and entertainers can make use of digital rhetoric to communicate and influence their opinions to others. For example, news is now digitalized. News sources now have the ability to influence and persuade through online platforms, which allows worldwide access. According to Eyman’s text “if we see digital rhetoric as a productive art, then all texts can be seen as objects of study for analysis and as products of digital rhetoric practices” (Eyman 10). Digital Rhetoric has been highly implemented in the classroom. In the education system you will find the use of technology common for completing assignments to taking exams on electronic devices. Both educators and students are encouraged to utilize laptops, tablets, computers, ebooks and smart boards. These tools further encourage digital rhetoric.

Crossfield, Jonathan. “Social Media: Is Your Content All Rhetoric?” Cntent Marketing Institutue. 14, December 2016. https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/12/social-media-content-rhetoric/

Eyman, Douglas. “Eyman - Introduction.pdf.” Google Drive, University of Michigan Press; Digital Culture Books, 12 June 2020, 18:47, drive.google.com/file/d/1XgoO l3RIe6tbL2lPho5LITl_9NT8n4C/view.

Fleitz, Elizabeth. Teaching Digital Rhetoric in the Age of Fake News: Media Literacy and Source Evaluation in the First-Year Writing Classroom. 15, March 2017. http://www.digitalrhetoriccollaborative.org/2017/03/15/teaching-digital-rhetoric-in-the-age-of-fakenews-media-literacy-and-source-evaluation-in-the-first-year-writing-classroom/.