Reading Doug Eyman’s section on digital literacy in “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric” really changed the way I think about what it means to be “literate” in digital spaces. Before this reading, I believed digital literacy was just the ability to effectively read and understand digital components. That was the extent of how I understood the term. But after working through Eyman’s explanation, I realized that digital literacy is much broader and deeper.
Eyman defines digital literacy as more than just technology based knowledge or comprehension; it also includes the ability to create, evaluate, and critique digital texts. “Digital rhetoric in all digital writing practices requires digital literacy.” “The same goes for print writing.” “A writer must be literate in print in order to use traditional rhetoric.” This made me think about how literacy encompasses more than just reading comprehension; it also includes the ability to create and interact rhetorically with content.
Digital literacy is Everywhere
Before, I would have thought digital literacy meant just being able to read a post, understand the words, and maybe click a link. Now, I see that I use digital literacy everyday on social media. The way I understand how to design a post, use a hashtag, or even my understanding that what I search up and like affects the platform’s algorithm that they’re creating for me. Looking back when I was reading tweets on Twitter about climate change, I was using digital literacy in how I received and understood the information. It was not just following the argument but also noticing how images are used to persuade and how the thread get boosted or buried in the sea of tweets.
What stood out most to me is Eyman’s point that literacy in digital contexts is tied to critical awareness. It’s not just about using digital tools correctly; it’s about questioning sources, noticing rhetorical choices, and understanding the power dynamics that are at play to even create the texts and share them. This is something that I have been actively trying to look out for because I am online so much. You can’t ignore dire situations, whether that is about the protest that happened in 2020 or the current situation our government has put us in. I have a responsibility to myself and the people that consume the information I share to be digitally literate.
Leave a Reply