Well–technically– also your mom’s rhetoric if she uses digital tools as a form of communication.
Traditional Rhetoric
The term rhetoric was first coined back in the 5th century BCE. Attributed to ancient Greek philosopher and polymath, Aristotle, who defines rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion”.
All rhetoric is possible through tools of communication. But prior to digital tools, it was accomplished through either speech, written text, or through visual forms of communication (like visual art).
These classical forms of rhetoric rely on four characteristics: Ethos (credibility), logos (logic), pathos (empathy), and kairos (timeliness).
Digital Rhetoric: What It Brings To The Table
Douglas Eyman mentions that digital rhetoric has three characteristics. Which are based on the findings within researcher Barabara Warnick’s text Rhetoric Online. These characteristics include:
- Ethos
- Interactivity
- Intertextuality
Ethos traditionally means how credibility. Digital spaces make ethos kind of difficult do establish due to anonymity online. But formed within individual online communities. Interactivity is used in digital spaces via hyperlinks, downloads, and user-to-user interaction. And finally intertextuality is when a text references a discourse that is occurring at the same time as it. It is a common rhetorical tool used by online users. The most popular example of intertext used in online communities are memes.
Conclusion
Digital rhetoric–like the communicative tools before it– relies on characteristics that aid in persuasion. The tools to allow digital rhetoric to be possible bring new possibilities of rhetorical methods, strategies, and devices.
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