Transcript Episode 23

Internet comment sections can be a complex space for human interaction, to say the least. We’ve all been tempted by some particularly enraging user to throw on the virtual boxing gloves and engage in some rhetorical fisticuffs. But how can we best engage with the Wild West of the internet and its many algorithms as academic rhetoricians? Dr. Joel Bergholtz, currently teaching Composition I and II and ENC 4416 Writing in Digital Environments, is here to answer just that as we discuss his research into social media pedagogies, online circulation, LLMs, and if we’ve gone post-human.

It’s always important to re-evaluate our rhetorical understanding as the forms we communicate in evolve, so join us as we brave these uncharted waters together!

Time Stamps

· Introduction - 00:07

· Joel’s Goals: Compassion in Rhetoric - 02:09

· Context, Intent, and Bridging Ideologies - 07:30

· How Culture is Engaged with and Circulated Online - 16:42

o Are We Post-Human? - 23:46

o How Social Media Platforms are Run - 27:41

· "R-R-R-Reeeemixxxx” - 35:53

o How AI Retrieves Info - 43:43

o What Makes Productive Political Debate - 46:40

· Engaging with Rhetoric Going Forward - 50:14

· Closing Thoughts - 59:48

Rhetorical Concepts

· 05:38 - The Rhetorical Situation

· 15:37 - Doxa After Digitality

· 54:22 - “The Perils of Not Paying Attention,” “Made Not Only in Words”

· 1:00:24 - Doxa, Nicomachean Ethics, techne