Expanding Text
Whenever I write a piece where I reference another piece of writing, eight times out of ten, I refer to it as a “text.” Like Eyman, my general definition when hearing this term was words on paper, or, since I grew up surrounded by technology, a text message. In “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric“, Eyman, in accordance with other scholars, defines text (to my understanding) as a form of communication that expresses a meaning, with rhetorical features. This definition (surprise!) expands even more when applied to digital rhetoric. Some text is written down, and after that, for the most part, is set in stone. Such as books and printed articles. However, in digital spaces, text is “in motion.” (Johnson-Eilola 2010, 37) It can be revised and edited, changing with the environment as its audience makes connections.
Intrinsic Persuasion
A part I found particularly interesting in this section was the “intrinsic persuasion” of texts. Rhetoric, in its simplest form, is persuasion, moving its audience into some form of action. The example of intrinsic persuasion in this section discusses websites, “which persuades each user that it is worthy of use, based on design, usability, and accessibility.”
Currently creating a website for the first time, still only in the early stages, I see how true this is and how much digital rhetoric plays a part not just in the written content but in the entire design. What colors stand out together, but feel welcoming? How can I make people want to click certain buttons? What will keep them on my website longer? What can I do to make it accessible and easy to navigate for users? These are all questions I’ve been having. I want to promote intrinsic persuasion to keep visitors to my website clicking and engaged. I’m realizing the text on my website is not just the words. It is the website as a whole. My mission now is to convey the meaning I intend for it to have using all its elements. To figure out how to make them all work together to achieve this goal.
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