Digital rhetoric is an extremely relevant term in the world of digital spaces. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, “Digital Rhetoric”, it is centered around the ability to understand digital spaces and communicate within them while also being able to convey known digital literacies within digital platforms. Doug Eyman relies heavily on this term throughout his book, “Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice”, in order to constantly tie the varying aspects of the digital world together. In this particular portion of his book, he looks to tie digital rhetoric in with human-computer interaction and the vast field of critical code studies.
What’s the connection between Human-Computer Interaction and Digital Rhetoric?
Eyman uses the simple words of Dix, Finlay, Abowd, and Beale to state that HCI is “put simply, the study of people, computer technology, and the ways these influence each other.” Easy enough, right? I mean it’s not hard to see the connections between HCI and digital rhetoric. Especially when the definition is put in such a simple way. I mean digital rhetoric focuses on the ability to convey known digital literacies while working in a digital space. HCI is the study of the influence between people and technology. It’s easy to see the relation, especially when Eyman points out his views regarding the relation. They both focus on the way people use technology in order to achieve varying things. It’s all about digital spaces and how they’re used.
Final Thoughts
It’s definitely a breath of fresh air to not only finish off Eyman but to end off on a piece that didn’t make my brain melt. Reading this wasn’t fun, at all, but it was significantly better than a lot of other pieces of his. Although I hate to admit it, I did learn a lot about digital rhetoric and HCI and everything else. I was completely clueless about a lot of digital stuff before this class so it’s nice to feel more educated. I still don’t like Eyman though and I hope I don’t have to interact with any of his pieces again.
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