Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Sep 2010 Open Access

Reshaping Slacktivist Rhetoric: Social Networking for Social Change

Joannah Portman-Daley

Abstract

This article investigates the parameters of civic engagement through digital writing. Specifically, it examines the differences between slacktivism and activism against changing citizenship styles and definitions of civic action. With the goal of rethinking the relationship between civics, digital technology, and slacktivism, it outlines a digital writing project that uses social networking technologies to enact social change by increasing students’ awareness in terms of what counts as civic action in digital spaces. In particular, it draws upon student reflections from a digital writing class to illustrate how engaging Stuart Selber’s three components of computer literacy—the functional, critical, and rhetorical—can afford young citizens an aware and ultimately agentive role in terms of their online civic participation, as well as an opportunity to increase their social capital as digital citizens.

Journal
Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
Published
2010-09-01
DOI
10.59236/rjv10i1pp104-133
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
Topics
rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy service learning digital rhetoric social media literacy studies
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Pennell (2014)
    (Re)Placing the Literacy Narrative: Composing in Google Maps
    Literacy in Composition Studies

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CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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