Today we see people
striving to not be left behind the fast growing digital
universe. While the
traditional roots of rhetoric are still appealing, we must think about how they can be applied to social networks, blogs,
vlogs, and whatever new stream of information and networking that has been
invented during the reading of this webpage. Today’s rhetoric is, after all, a digital
rhetoric. Digital rhetoric encompasses rhetoric that has adapted to the general public’s
standards of being appealed to and persuaded in our growing
digital world.
FOUNDATIONS
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The foundation of rhetoric has not needed to change for us to understand digital rhetoric. This foundation can be studied in the writings of the famous philosopher of ancient Greece, Aristotle. Aristotle (as reviewed by the YouTube video, "Using the Rhetorical Triangle and Rhetorical Appeals,” by YouTube’s David Wright) wrote about the rhetorical triangle in which there is an author, an audience, and a text. This has not changed with digital rhetoric; the only exception is that the text may now come in the form of video or audio. There is still a piece written or created by an author for an audience to appeal to or persuade them. The same goes with Aristotle’s view on logos, ethos, and pathos. These tools that authors use in their work to connect with their audience are still deployed in digital spaces.
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Design and Persuasion
The most obvious aspect of digital rhetoric today is visual persuasion or persuasive design. This encompasses strategic applications related to rhetorical principles that result in the organization and customization of what the audience sees. Before digital rhetoric, visual persuasion would have been related to art works like sculptures and paintings; today we find this most commonly in relation to web designs. In an interview with Andrew Chak, “Guiding Users with Persuasive Design: An Interview with Andrew Chak” by Christine Perfetti, Chak responds that “To be successful, sites must go beyond Usability by focusing on Persuasive Design. They must motivate users by taking advantage of persuasive tactics that will make them take action. The most persuasive web sites focus on making users feel comfortable about making decisions and helping them act on them.” Chak is speaking about the simple task of making a website user-friendly as a form of persuasion to encourage readers to continue exploring the website. This could easily be interpreted as one of Aristotle’s rhetorical terms of pathos where we see an appeal to the audience’s emotions of comfort. This new application of a rhetorical term in a digital world is a prime example of digital rhetoric.
A more specific example of persuasive design in digital cultures is the relatively recent Facebook redesigns. Facebook has redesigned their layout almost annually to ensure a user-friendly website that will appeal to the audiences and encourage them to frequent the website. During each of these updates, Facebook boosted their creditability by assuring their users that this was an improvement to make Facebook easier. Now while some may have disliked or had trouble adjusting, the amount of Facebook users only increased.
New Age Rhetoric is here
Digital rhetoric is new age rhetoric. We experience it everyday with everything, especially with everyone having a personal page on the web. Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Vine, blogs, and vlogs represent rhetoric in our growing, instant, visually-stimulated, tech-savvy digital generation. Digital rhetoric is the remake of old tools to appeal to and persuade the people of today and tomorrow.
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I am 21-year old transfer student from Borough of Manhattan of Community College at John Jay College. I am a computer and information systems major.
I love graphic designs and computerized art. I am studying to further my passions and that includes being a NYPD officer. I am an only child of a single mother and I still ended up having a huge family. I work hard for those I love and that includes my pets. I'm on the weird side, but weird people make the world go round, so I stay true to me. Hope you enjoy meeting me. Stay Awesome-Sauce! |
To Cite This Webpage:
Velazquez, J. (2014). "Digital rhetoric for a digital world." Digital Rhetorics. Retrieved from http://www.digirhetorics.org/digital-rhetoric-for-a-digital-world-by-johnkarlo-velazquez.html.
(This was a homework assignment that JohnKarlo graciously donated to the site and class.)
Velazquez, J. (2014). "Digital rhetoric for a digital world." Digital Rhetorics. Retrieved from http://www.digirhetorics.org/digital-rhetoric-for-a-digital-world-by-johnkarlo-velazquez.html.
(This was a homework assignment that JohnKarlo graciously donated to the site and class.)
