Messy Rhetoric: Identity Performance as Rhetorical Agency in Online Public Forums

    Authors

    J. T. Grabill;S. Pigg

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Rhetor. Soc. Q.

    Keywords

    SCIENCE; ARGUMENTATION; Communication; Literature; Philosophy

    Abstract

    Our essay draws from a study of interaction in a large and active online public forum. Studying rhetorical activity in open forums presents a number of methodological and conceptual challenges because the interactions are persistent and nonlinear in terms of when and how participants engage, and engagement often happens via textual fragments. We take up two related issues in this essay: one is the methodological challenge of how to study engagement in open digital places. We take up that issue by way of the example study featured here. The second issue is more conceptual and concerns how identity is leveraged as a form of rhetorical agency in these conversations. We argue that in the context of open forums like Science Buzz these identity performances are crucial as rhetorical agencies, creating space as they function to move discussion.

    Journal Title

    Rhetoric Society Quarterly

    Volume

    42

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2012

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    99

    Last Page

    119

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000305175300001

    ISSN

    0277-3945

    Share

    COinS