Teaching Rhetoric in Social Media

Rhetoric Used in Everyday Life

Analyzing the rhetoric of social media is a way to “hook” students during a rhetorical analysis unit of study. Let’s face it, students are immersed in the online world, so the communication is innate, even “native” to them and the text complexity is low. Importantly, while the text complexity is low, we can be front-loading complex thinking skills as students learn to hone in on author’s choices such as loaded language and syntax. In addition, there is an added layer of meaning when it comes to analyzing the intended audience, the occasion, and images used to accompany social media content.

Overall, beyond use as an introduction to rhetorical analysis, the rhetoric of social media can be a fascinating way for students to extend their text analysis skills.

Rhetoric of the Text Message

Actually, my student assistant clued me in to this potential “hook” for close reading and rhetorical analysis practice. I told her that I was brainstorming ways to introduce our analysis unit. Then, she suggested that I give students three terms: “lol,” “haha,” “lmao” (if you’re allowed to), and “hahaha.”

She said, “students will be able to tell you that there are different shades of meaning depending on the texting lingo that is used.” And she was right. My students even came up with examples of their own and considered how use of capitalization changed the meaning.

• lol: This is rarely used to mean “funny.” Instead, text messages use this as a filler or when you feel awkward about saying something or judged for being too serious.
• haha – Someone said something not funny and you’re irritated. This is used when someone is trying to be funny, but not.
• lmao – This means that something is actually funny. If it is written in all capital letters or more of a certain letter to indicate degree of funniness
• hahaha – This means that the recipient actually laughed.

Also, students can consider the punctuation as they analyze rhetoric in social media.

• What is the meaning behind choices to punctuate (or not)? 
• How does the meaning of punctuation choices in social media differ from traditional writing? For example, are exclamation points the “new period” because using a period is seen as “too serious”?
• Why aren’t question marks a “thing” anymore in text messaging?
• Beyond this, what significance do these trends hold?

Text Messaging = New Language

Text messaging is a language of its own.

Ask students to come up with their own examples and share with the class. Look for and discuss trends. Start an “important questions” wall.

This is the foundation for rhetorical analysis in social media.

Focus on Rhetoric in Social Media

In short, this “experiment” suggested by a member of my students’ generation made me think. After all, I am 20+ years older than my students and am noticing, more and more, that I don’t have the “insider” perspective. I have to actively seek out ways to broaden my perspective so that I can understand (and maybe even appreciate) this generation’s interests. Social media and the online world is a prime example.

I do know this: engaging students means meeting them where they are. It means giving them choice. It means tapping into interests and prior knowledge.

So, I now focus on rhetoric in social media as a way to enrich student’s skills during my inquiry and rhetorical analysis units.

Rhetoric Topics

There are a lot of options and extensions for analyzing rhetoric in social media. Who knows, maybe your next rhetorical analysis essay assignment will be focused on rhetoric in social media!

Rhetoric in Social Media Examples to Analyze

First, an easy compare/contrast would be to look at the Twitter profiles of Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Ask students what they notice about each author’s choices.

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Or, ask students to analyze the rhetoric of Humans of New York’s Instagram or Facebook pages, a single post, or the pages as a whole. For example, you might have students predict what the caption will be about based on the image alone, asking them to notice details. Then, have students talk about the diction and syntax used by the mother. What is the message here about motherhood? About roles and expectations? How does the speaker primarily define herself? What does she believe about motherhood, and how is that shown through her use of diction and syntax? What else is important to notice?

Trust me. If you try this approach, you’ll be surprised how thoughtful and engaged some of your most reluctant learners are.

13 Suggestions for Analyzing Rhetoric in Social Media

Here are some suggestions for ways in which you might analyze rhetoric in social media in your high school English classroom.

1. Have students look at their last five text messages (or their Instagram page, Twitter account, etc.) and reflect on what their choices as an author reveal about their attitudes, values, culture, personality, etc. Ask: Why did you word your content in certain ways? How (if at all) did your content change depending on the audience? How does your online persona differ from “real life”? What messages (direct or implied) are you sending through your content?

2. Have students analyze the rhetoric of an Instagram Streak.

3. Have students think about what they say vs. what they don’t say on social media. Why?

4. Analyze the rhetoric of a “fake” news story perpetuated by social media and “filter bubbles.” Have students propose ways to “guard” against fake news on social media.

5. Post a series of “Tweets” by well-known celebrities or artists, but don’t reveal the names. Ask students to guess who said what (you might give a choice between three celebrities) and justify their responses by talking about word choice, syntax, etc.

6. Have students visit Instagram pages and write a rhetorical analysis precis based on what they infer from the content.

7. Have students create Twitter accounts for “personas” that you’ve created. Give students the profile of an “imaginary” social media author and have them make choices that reveal (but don’t directly state) the author’s opinions and values. Then, have students justify their choices.

8. Analyze the rhetoric of a trending “Buzzfeed” article. Or, how about the rhetoric of “clickbait” headlines?

9. Deconstruct the rhetoric of a Vlog. The Idea Channel and vlogbrothers work well.

10. Analyze the rhetoric of a particular Instagram influencer.

11. Deconstruct the rhetoric of a “Fandom” or Reddit page.

12. Analyze the rhetoric of social media “trolls” or in any comment section.

13. Investigate how “faminess” is perpetuated by the rhetoric of social media.

Questions for Rhetorical Analysis in Social Media

• What do we know about the author? How does this author use words and/or images to create an online persona? Is this author authentic and how do we know?
• What subject(s) does this author care about? What message(s) is the author sending about these subjects? How does the author use words and/or images to send a message?
• Why does the author care about his/her message? Why should we care about this message?
• What is the author’s tone? Is it appropriate? How do you know?
• Why is now the “right” or “opportune” time to be hearing this message? What is happening in society to make hearing and acting on this message especially important? How does the “immediacy” of the publication method add to or detract from the message itself?
• What broad and narrow audiences is this author targeting? How do you know? Does the author use insider jargon or language to connect with these audiences? Are there any ethical flaws that the author may not be aware of which impact his/her ability to connect or influence?
• Are there any patterns we should notice in how the author uses language, sentence structure, punctuation, and/or images? Why might these patterns be important?
• How does the chosen publication method add to or take away from the author’s ability to send his or her message, persuade an audience, establish credibility, etc.?
• Is the author’s style and mode of communication effective? Why or why not?
• Are social media messages as important as traditional methods of communication? Why or why not?

Free Guide to Teaching Rhetoric!

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