We have talked a lot about the digital world from breaking down its meaning to talking about digital literacy. The rhetoric used in digital spaces is the next topic of discussion. Eyman mentions that Lanham “connects digital texts and literary studies,” which reminds me of a conversation we had in class.
I mentioned to my group digital texts should be studied through the lens of rhetorical analysis. A big example I used was these blog posts. These blog posts follow a certain structure, different to print texts, that you have to follow to stand out in the online world. This changes the way you format your text. The whole SEO checklist needs to be met in order to have a “good” online blog.
Digital Rhetoric & Hypertext
When we talk about digital rhetoric, it is important to know how digital and print texts differ. Eyman refers to Landow’s work which points out electronic linking. When we add hyperlinks to texts that opens doors for more oppurtunity. Something print texts lack as you can’t expand your knowledge directly from that texts.
Doug Brents new definition of rhetoric stuck out to me. The term ‘rhetoric’ has definitely become a more open meaning. In online forums it makes sense rhetoric now involves, “interaction, conversation, and joint construction of knowledge.” In my group we mentioned the use of reviews and comment sections on digital texts. By having this it chnages the readers idea or view of the content they are reading about.
As we continue to move forward with digital texts, it is important to continue referbishing old ideas as long as creating new ones. We can look at digital texts through slight literary analysis but focusing on rhetoric may be a better solution. As the definiton begins to grow more with digital spaces I believe that may be the best way for new developments to be made.
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