Meaning of Digital
Digital Rhetoric is used to describe the use of information being shared with others. Both words mean something different. Digital often makes someone think of electronics or computers. However, there are other technical systems that fit its description. Digital does not solely refer to computer technologies, it can also refer to other systems that use different elements to make up the original technical definition. Digital also refers to our “digits” or fingers which are used to interact with the world. For example, writing, braille, and the Dewey Decimal Classification System are all non-computer-based examples of digital systems. Doug Eyman further explains these ideas in his book, “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric.”
What is Digital Rhetoric?
To start off, rhetoric is any form of persuasion using any form of communication. The author Doug Eyman explores this idea of Digital Rhetoric in his book, as mentioned previously. In Eyman’s paragraph titled ‘Digital’, he expresses it is essential to remember that digital can refer to any material production of text (both print or electronic). He also brings up a point made by Angela Haas, that digital in Latin, or digitalis, means “of or relating to fingers or toes” or “a coding of information.” This changes people’s thoughts regarding what ‘digital’ means. Personally, I think of a phone, laptop, television, or anything seen as an electronic device. But hearing that it can include non-technological systems is just about mind-blowing.
This book by Eyman and Haas brings up a whole other side of what it means. As for rhetoric, its meaning has confused people throughout the years. Generally, news outlets depict it to be a negative form of persuasion used by politicians. Putting both words together almost makes the words meaning unimaginable to those who do not understand either’s definition separately. However, its meaning is not as abstract as people may imagine it to be.
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