Technology has always been evolving through the years. As one of the milestones of media, it has helped spread information in a blink of eye. From papers, we now have screens where get news all throughout. Rhetoric is no exception when using it digitally. Nowadays, we are persuaded with discourses all throughout the internet. Let’s see what James P. Zappen, a researcher of the digital rhetoric, has to say about it.
How does persuasion work in online communication? How are the rhetorical strategies of persuasion deployed in online spaces?
As persuasion can be done through the word of mouth, and through writing, it’s very possible to be done digitally as well. Aristotle’s timely notion of logos, pathos and ethos still holds true in online spaces. Discourses of almost any issue are on the internet. Laura J. Gurak and Barbara Warnick, as they explore the uses of persuasion in digital media, say that traditional media extends digitally, which creates credibility or the ethos. One example would be ABS-CBN News and other news company. From being seen before on TVs, news can also now be found in the internet.
To better understand digital rhetoric, let us understand its four main characteristics according to Gurak. These are: (1) speed, (2) reach, (3) anonymity, and (4) interactivity.
Speed affects the credibility of the information because people have the tendency to believe information when it’s shared by a number of people. Also speed allows information to be easily shared with all. With speed, the internet allows you to share any information with just a press of a button.
Reach is how people get the information. The more info is repetitively shared, the more people will be able to receive it.
Anonymity reduces ethos. Anyone can just make a fake account and troll just about anyone on the internet. Also, the accountability between people is lessened. One can simply “trash-talk” and flame (the hostile expression of strong emotions) online and get away with it, especially when it’s just a troll account.
Interactivity allows people to be “closer” to each other. This uses the convenience in the internet wherein you don’t have to be with a person physically, to have a conversation or even a discussion.
How do computer programs function as persuasive technology?
B.J. Fogg tells us that a computer, and its programs, is only but a tool, a medium for persuasion. He says that “it simplifies processes or customizes information”. For example, with Facebook, one can use it as a platform for debate. If one has an account, he/she can use it to give a discourse over a certain issue. Information can easily be shared, edited and customized. It all comes down to the usage of the tool, whether for the good of all or one’s self-interest.
How do the processes of identity and community formation on social media affect rhetorical practice online?
Identity formation on social media is when we create our “virtual selves” in the internet and interact with others on the internet. We develop our own person and we learn about other people. This creates credibility to people, when disclose ourselves with consistency of who we are in real-life and the virtual one. Community formation on social media is more or less the same as identity formation, but as a group of people with common interest interacting virtually.
Both processes of formation affects rhetorical practice online especially in the aspect of ethos. One must have credibility online if he/she is to be trusted in different rhetorical discourses. In the context of rhetoric, discourses can still have the elements of exigence, audience and the constraint. There can be an exchange of information between people online and anyone can participate in it.
References
Zappen. J. (2005). Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14(3), 319-325.
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