Doug Eyeman’s “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric,” speaks on the definition of digital literacy. According to the reading, digital literacy involves the skills required to read, write, and communicate in an online or digital setting. When I think of literacy I think of it as growth or something that develops over time. People learn reading, writing, and communication skills over time, starting from a child learning how to put the words together and pronouncing them, to an adult who uses advanced words to write.
Digital vs Literacy
From previous readings and class discussions on digital, I learned that digital is anything that can be controlled with the hand to share ideas with other people. Digital does not have to mean technology. A piece of paper and pencil is digital because for one, technology is involved in making a pencil and the writing on the paper can be addressed to other people.
Literacy on the other hand is not only the ability to read and write because not all knowledge is expressed in words. For instance, body language is a good example of this. Without speaking anything, people frequently use gestures or facial expressions to express their intentions or feelings. In this scenario, literacy may also refer to the ability to read nonverbal cues. From the reading on Digital Literacy, literacy is the ability to think or comprehend in a particular field. Literacy is hard to describe as limited to reading and writing because there are so many topics that someone can be knowledgeable about.
Navigating Communication in the Digital Era
Digital Literacy is far more complicated. It all comes down to being able to communicate on digital platforms by using and comprehending the various media types. Digital Rhetoric on the other hand is the use of digital tools to persuade people. This rhetoric transmits rhetorical signals through a variety of media. Overall, Rhetoric persuades the audience despite misrepresenting the facts. Literacy is one area where it can be more individualized.
Check out my previous blog post: “What is “Digital?”
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