In the novel Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric by Doug Eyman’s, the chapter on “Text” stood out to me the most. It deals with this shift at some length, inviting us to reconsider what they mean by text. I feel as though it is implied first as alphabetic writing printed words on a page or screen. Eyman’s argument is that in digital rhetoric, text is multimodal in nature. That it doesn’t simply appear as words, but often incorporates images, sounds, videos, hyperlinks, and even interactivity. A YouTube video, or an Instagram story are all texts because they’re communicative and shaped by rhetorical choices. This definition analyzes and interprets a much wider range of communication. It also practices as rhetorically significant, especially in the online context where modes often blend imperceptibly.
An example of this would be a TikTok video. A Tik Tok video is a digital text, but also word limits or algorithms are profoundly. Influenced messages maybe composed and interpreted by the audience . Such an understanding of text-technology and it is effectively to analyze digital rhetoric. In the novel Eyman also expresses the troubles of the concept of text as finished. He also shows the process that sometimes develops, evolves, and invites people to collaborate. A Reddit thread or Wikipedia post is an example. Those post are created over time by multiple individuals not just by one person. Even a viral tweet can have hundreds of responses, or replies that alter its meaning and reach. This dynamic and interactive nature of digital text gives attention to looking beyond the content. The content itself creates and observes what happens in terms of interaction.
Leave a Reply