In this era there are two mediums of speech public rhetoric and digital rhetoric. In the former anyone can speak their mind to a crowd confident that some, though not all, are paying them any attention. While in the digital spectrum writers can be sure that what they are posting up on the web is getting the attention of everyone who sees it.
In a scholarly article published in Composition Forum by David Gold, Merideth Garcia, and Anna V. Knutson titled “Going Public in an Age of Digital Anxiety: How Students Negotiate the Topoi of Online Writing Environments” we see it from the lens of students. In the internet there is no such thing as being an anonymous presence there is always a footprint to follow that leads right back to a user. And most importantly nothing on the internet ever goes away, it stays forever, and is open to anyone who wants to find it. For students of today this is a tangible weight that effects their ability to engage in digital rhetoric because what they post online can have a greater lasting impact to them personally then whatever they say online. Assuming of course they haven’t been recorded.
The digital realm is full of dangers and exposing even a bit of yourself in it can have dangerous consequences. It’s no wonder then that students have a difficult time using it because whatever they right stays forever, their voice is out for the world to scrutinize and its terrifiying.
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