Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2025

Misinformation As Genre Function: Insights on the Infodemic from a Genre-Theoretical Perspective

Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher University of Waterloo ; Brad Mehlenbacher University of Waterloo

Abstract

Misinformation has generated much discussion in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant "Infodemic," as the World Health Organization (WHO) dubbed the challenge of disordered information. Rhetorical genre studies can offer important insights about how misinformation functions within informational ecologies by revealing how typification and recurrence provide opportunities for misinformation to take hold. This article develops a genre-based framework to study scientific and technical misinformation as illicit genres through concepts of genre function and abusability.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2025-01-02
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2024.2367779
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (12)

  1. Mehlenbacher et al. (2025)
    Synthetic Genres: Expert Genres, Non-Specialist Audiences, and Misinformation i…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Thieme (2022)
    A Play on Occlusion: Uptake of Letters to the University President
    Rhetoric Review
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    Evidence Engines: Common Rhetorical Features of Fraudulent Academic Articles
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    Written Communication
  5. Graham (2021)
    Misinformation Inoculation and Literacy Support Tweetorials on COVID-19
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 12 →
  1. Mehlenbacher (2019)
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    Written Communication
  2. Mehlenbacher (2017)
    Crowdfunding Science: Exigencies and Strategies in an Emerging Genre of Science…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Toward an Ethical Rhetoric of the Digital Scientific Image: Learning From the E…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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    Written Communication
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    Observing Inscriptions at Work: Visualization and Text Production in Experiment…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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