Defining Digital Rhetoric

For the past few weeks i’v been learning about the Digital world; digital, digital literacy and now digital rhetoric. Although you can read about them in my previous blogs, Digital Literacy, and Being Digital I will give you a refresher here by defining them for you.

Digital–

So far iv’e learned that digital is defined as the different forms of communications we use daily. Such as, a computer, text, newspaper, television, writing and our fingers.

Digital literacy–

is the ability to understand how things work digitally. A simple example is using my cellphone to read, write and send an email. Retrieving files on a computer and one of the most popular is creating a social media page. Simple stuff right?

Digital Rhetoric–

My understanding and definition of digital rhetoric is the way in which we choose to communicate digitally. For instance instead of sending a long email explaining information, I may send a link with that same information, a meme, a podcast or write a blogpost. However, this all goes back to as I mentioned in my last blog post digital literacy and peoples preference and comfortability. Digital, digital literacy and digital rhetoric all go hand in hand. Once cannot be successful in the digital world without having knowledge of all the digital elements.

According to Eyman, people have to learn to make sense of the iconic systems evident in computer displays with all the combinations of signs, symbols, pictures and sounds. He goes on to say that Lanham point out in his essay the digital rhetoric is a form of art, and i have to agree with him. The amazing things that people do with computers takes on a life of its own. The ability to be able to communicate a message using memes is incredible to me. The Digital world is a fun place to be apart of.