Urban Mappings and Messy Rhetoric

There is a challenge in studying rhetoric in open digital spaces. In "Messy Rhetoric: Identity Performance as Rhetorical Agency in Online Public Forums" they discuss the issues and benefits in engaging in public discussions online. From a rhetorical standpoint, forums allow public issues to be questioned and a discussion keeps going and this discussion turns from talking about a certain group, to that certain group responding. Unlike traditional text, online forums can be a discussion between the author and the audience can respond.

The specific example that they used was about a forum called Science Buzz and a specific forum posting by someone wanting to know about the HPV vaccination because they could not find a reliable source to learn the side effects of the drugs. While people can use forums as a way to get their questions answered, there is no guarantee that the people responding are a reputable source. Sometimes, like in the case of the HPV article, there will be people who like to "troll" posts as well, and make remarks that do not pertain to the actual discussion.

In "Urban Mappings", Rice talks about the challenges in evaluating the rhetoric of mapping software. While the software represents something that is concrete, it can easily be ignored and manipulated. For instance, he uses the example of taking a different route in Detroit because he knows that route better and likes that this route is slower and safer for him. Although the software was telling him to take a way that less than half of the time of the way that he likes, he knows this route better and can associate it with personal meaning. Mapping software is different rhetorically than any other digital space because it corresponds to something that is concrete, but it can be changed to another thing that is also concrete. So, whether it is "right" or "wrong" is never quite possible to determine; it puts more responsibility in the hands of the user.