Abstract
Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for the Social Media and the Web by Dan Lawrence is prefaced with an explanation that this text is designed to help readers engage with digital media in a more rhetorical manner than we’ve allowed for. Lawrence laments the lack of the proper study of platonic rhetoric in the 21st century because he believes Plato saw more than the persuasive value of rhetoric and instead saw rhetoric as a means of aligning speech with truth, aligning speech with personal and social values, attitudes, and beliefs. Lawrence’s text is an effort to bring classical rhetoric into and alongside of what we are calling digital media with the goal to help readers effectively, persuasively, and more meaningfully use the technologies we have.
The text is divided into five main chapters with multiple subsections in each one. Additionally, unlike other texts that often deal with this same topic, this text provides guided discussion questions and student prompts at the end of each chapter. On the publisher's website, one can also find companion materials such as supplemental readings and supplemental videos. Instructor resources are also included in this text and include discussion board prompts, a sample syllabus, digital training and certificate information, and sample quizzes. Combined with the text, these resources make it easy to customize the course to student needs. Additionally, these chapters do not have to be read in a linear fashion as is the case with most textbooks. This text is definitely designed to allow multiple audiences multiple entrances into the reading material.
The first chapter, Introduction to Digital Writing, discusses the meaning of digital media and provides a rhetorical framework for the chapters that follow. Lawrence explains the connections between rhetoric and technology and discusses the application of rhetoric to digital media. He goes into some depth about the relationship of ethos, logos, and pathos as applied to digital media. This chapter brings together threads related to writing, communication, and technology and provides a foundation from which to examine more closely, the technical, professional, and ethical implications imbued with digital media/digital writing.
In chapter 2, Writing for Social Media, Lawrence takes us back through what readers and instructors know about the writing process and how that schema informs and shapes the digital writing process. His discussion here grows out of the research related to best practices of writing instruction. He continues to apply the rhetorical framework in this chapter and connects the writing process to critical thinking. A writer, according to Lawrence, is also a critical thinker and whether writers are writing in traditional media or digital media, they have an ethical, social, and civic responsibility to the reader to be truthful, accurate, and honest with their writing. Planning, writing, and revision are steps most often associated with the writing process, but Lawrence introduces the “Think, Write, Argue and Create” model as one model that can be applied to digital writing. In the “think” phase, the writer plans the approach to constructing the desired message, gathers any necessary research, and identifies his or her audience for the message. Once they have given enough thought and have a plan, then they begin constructing the actual message. While writing, the author must build a solid argument with a clear purpose that can be effectively communicated to the audience. The writer's responsibility doesn’t end with the written text. Once the text is written, the writer has to then create the media “whether it is a post, or a video with a script or a new website” (p. 36). Lawrence explains that digital writing persists across most (if not all) fields, industries, and disciplines. In chapter 2, Lawrence also continues to build a working definition of digital media, building off of concepts forwarded by German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, or the work of new media scholar Lev Manovich. The resulting definition is not without its problems according to Lawrence but is nonetheless useful because it “seems to capture something about the aesthetic of the Web 3.0” (p. 38). As chapter 2 continues, Lawrence once more returns to the power of rhetoric.
Next, in chapter 3, Writing for the Web, Lawrence opens with a broad view of writing for the web and draws attention to the fact that to write for the web is to write for a variety of genres. A press release in one space might give way to what bulleted list in another space. The driving force behind writing for the web, in particular the Internet, is the rhetorical understanding of audience. Not only is the question “Who is generating this traffic in a particular space?” but equally important is to identify “Why has this traffic come to this particular space?” For example, “why someone visits website A” is just as important as “who visits websites A.” Lawrence also provides sobering data related to global internet access and usage and the technological divide that exists between those who have and those who do not have internet access, high speed or otherwise. As many countries strive for more public access because they see the value of doing so, an equal number of problematic governments still sensor or heavily monitor the content delivered through, as well as access to, the Internet. That aside, chapter 3 notes “people spending time on the Internet are socializing, doing work, uploading content and connecting” (p. 79) in vast numbers. However, highlighting YouTube, but also easily applied to other web genres, Lawrence questions hours watched against hours created and with a note of concern asks, “Is the traffic on YouTube decentralized, catering to small content creators and niche topics? Or is most traffic centralized to a few power users’ channels?” These types of questions need to be asked and further studied.
Next, he discusses the role of algorithms in relationship to Internet usage and explains how these algorithms have a very real impact in our day-to-day lives, such as the application that never generates a callback. Algorithms drive the types of advertisements in our news feed or shape how public opinion is developed. Issues of data privacy and data transparency arise both in how information is provided to us, taken from us, or freely given by our Internet usage. This moves the questions once more to data ethics and the need to carefully examine not just how data is created but how it is used. Lawrence then gives us reliable definitions and explanations for searchability and findability which eventually leads him to remind the reader that “the responsibility of vetting the content is on the individual” (p. 84). As with previous concepts, as chapter 3 unfolds, Lawrence once more provides clarity for the reader when he defines the difference between disinformation and misinformation. He notes, too, that disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda even, have a long history but that the digital age affords a host of new problems and issues for the writer. After taking us low, Lawrence does offer a glimmer of hope that contemporary rhetoric gives us tools to address all the issues he's heretofore mentioned, but at the same time warns us that contemporary rhetoric is too often developed for the academic audience. This leads us to question, what then of the writer writing for the web. The remaining sections of chapter 3 attempt to answer that question beginning with websites and moving to the way the screen both large and small has become a part of daily life. This rise in screen usage has been fueled in part by advances in smartphones and other handheld technologies. To round out the chapter, Lawrence provides useful information on web traffic, search engine optimization, blogging, content writing, landing pages, and web-building tools. He ends where he began, focusing on rhetorical understanding that undergirds how one writes, what one writes, and for whom one writes when writing on the web.
Chapter 4 focuses on digital and visual design. In this chapter, Lawrence reminds us that just as rhetoric informs “text” when writing for the web, rhetoric also informs our digital and visual designs. Writing for the web isn’t just about the text but rather can be very complex multimodal writing that involves visual and digital elements to complete, enhance, or strengthen the message. Lawrence reminds us that just as classical rhetoric, focused on oratory and speech, contemporary rhetoric has grown to encompass “visuals, video, design, and processes” that influence the viewers’ reactions/responses (p. 99). Just as rhetoric helps us understand how to better create these elements, rhetoric helps the creator to develop more ethical content. Lawrence writes “rhetoric is both a tool to help you write and design more effectively and to help you decode and analyze the messages and advertisements that you receive from others” (p. 100). Chapter 4 examines the application of rhetoric in visual and digital spaces. Those who write in digital spaces are often responsible not just for the text but for the whole design process which may include digital and visual elements.
Lawrence stresses too that one must “recognize the crucial crossover between writing, language, and the visual and sonic world” (p. 102). At this point, while the concept has been mentioned in previous chapters, Lawrence defines multimodal writing as multiple modes. Today, a writer doesn’t write just text but could also be “creating graphics, putting text on top of images, putting text into video, writing a script that becomes a video, writing content for a website that also features illustrations and so on” (p. 102). Successful writers today must be proficient not just with traditional textual rhetoric, but visual and sonic rhetoric. All the senses are engaged. Lawrence moves from a discussion on visual rhetoric to graphic design and attempts to explain the minute differences between visual rhetoric and graphic design when he writes “whenever we communicate rhetorically with images, we are considering elements of graphic design, more broadly, visual design and aesthetics” (p. 106). He does not attempt an exhaustive explanation of graphic design as he has done with previous concepts covered in the text, but rather gives a brief overview of how graphic design crosses disciplinary and professional boundaries. From graphic design, Lawrence moves to a brief discussion of digital video followed by digital-visual design. The chapter concludes with an explanation of the several useful adobe products that multimodal writers writing in digital spaces may have to use. Having some prior experience with these seemingly complex software programs can be an edge in the job market. The programs Lawrence discusses are prefaced with an explanation about the power of Adobe software being its ability to be built in layers, layers that are independent of each other. He also acknowledges that Adobe is not the only software to do this, but it is the one that is most often used across industries. Lawrence acknowledges that these programs can be daunting, but he also points out there are countless videos, tutorials, and training tools readily available on the Internet. Early entry- to mid-level applicants are not expected to be experts with these tools, but rather should be able to use them (or learn how to) to complete specific tasks as needed. Lawrence then provides a short blurb about Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro.
From this section of the chapter, Lawrence moves to a section on YouTube and video advertisements in which he answers a question some might be asking “Why have I included so many visual, video, and design elements in a book about writing?” (p. 112). The simple answer is that people who write professionally are often asked to create videos in varied settings from business and industry to education and healthcare. Professional writers in the current job market cannot afford not to be versed in and familiar with the power of video as a communicative tool. Lawrence concludes chapter 4 with a brief discussion of aesthetics, microgenres, and emergent technologies. What this chapter and the preceding ones have done is to show that rhetoric is a powerful tool that helps us analyze incoming messages, but rhetoric also is a powerful tool that helps us create ethical, powerful, provocative, and persuasive messages that will be consumed by others.
The last chapter, Digital Writing Jobs, in Lawrence's book is one that isn’t often included in this much detail in similar texts. All the information in chapters 1–4 means very little if it can’t be applied in a real-world setting. This chapter explores the most useful skills to break into a digital writing career, whether one is a new graduate or one is simply trying to broaden their skillset and train for a better job. This chapter focuses on the most common types of jobs where digital writing is dominant, but it is not an exhaustive or conclusive list because digital writing can be and is often found or used in an infinite variety of jobs. He begins with a fundamental problem often faced by students, articulating their skillset to others in a way that will be clearly understood and accurate to their abilities. When asked to include skills on their application materials, individuals must understand that employers are seeking information on “soft” skills like communication and creativity as much as they’re looking for “hard” skills related to software or hands-on experience. Lawrence provides a short list of “Soft skills to avoid” which includes phrases like “Great communicator” or “Excels at interpersonal interactions” (p. 121). Lawrence goes on to explain that in and of themselves these lists are not bad, but rather, are the bare minimum for anyone entering the job market today. This information doesn’t belong on the resume but is rather demonstrated in later parts of the hiring process such as the interview. As Lawrence writes soft skills “do not provide any evidence of their abilities” (p. 122). The skills listed on the resume must give a clear picture of your potential as an employee. Just as Lawrence tells us what not to write, he also gives an example of how to better present skills on the resume that provides potential employers with a wealth of information. He also gives readers of this text suggestions for acquiring or further developing their skillset and he provides insight into what potential employers looking for digital writers are looking for in a potential employee. Next, he moves on to the practicalities of applying for a job, networking with other professionals, and lastly writing a digitally savvy, rhetorically sound resume and cover letter.
Overall, this is a smartly designed, well-written text that doesn’t seek to do everything for everyone. You won’t find the kitchen sink here, but if you’re looking for a good overview of digital writing, then this text is an excellent resource. Dan Lawrence does an excellent job of refocusing attention on the importance of having a solid rhetorical (classic or contemporary) frame of reference regarding digital writing. From start to finish, this text repeatedly draws the reader back to considering the rhetorical situation of every type of document we write, whether print or digital, for only then can we be good stewards of the technologies we’ve been given or may yet be given. Lawrence echoes Plato when he writes “we should first seek the truth and then articulate it” (p. 135). As writers, rhetoricians, scholars, or the everyday person on the street, Lawrence reminds us that we must continually, critically, and philosophically question how we are using the technology and for what purpose we are using the technologies and for whom we are using it.
