Computers and Composition Dec 2024 Open Access

“Wayfinding” through the AI wilderness: Mapping rhetorics of ChatGPT prompt writing on X (formerly Twitter) to promote critical AI literacies

Anuj Gupta University of Arizona ; Ann Shivers-McNair University of Arizona

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate how studying the rhetorics of ChatGPT prompt writing on social media can promote critical AI literacies. Prompt writing is the process of writing instructions for generative AI tools like ChatGPT to elicit desired outputs and there has been an upsurge of conversations about it on social media. To study this rhetorical activity, we build on four overlapping traditions of digital writing research in computers and composition that inform how we frame literacies, how we study social media rhetorics, how we engage iteratively and reflexively with methodologies and technologies, and how we blend computational methods with qualitative methods. Drawing on these four traditions, our paper shows our iterative research process through which we gathered and analyzed a dataset of 32,000 posts (formerly known as tweets) from X (formerly Twitter) about prompt writing posted between November 2022 to May 2023. We present five themes about these emerging AI literacy practices: (1) areas of communication impacted by prompt writing, (2) micro-literacy resources shared for prompt writing, (3) market rhetoric shaping prompt writing, (4) rhetorical characteristics of prompts, and (5) definitions of prompt writing. In discussing these themes and our methodologies, we highlight takeaways for digital writing teachers and researchers who are teaching and analyzing critical AI literacies.

Journal
Computers and Composition
Published
2024-12-01
DOI
10.1016/j.compcom.2024.102882
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
social media artificial intelligence

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Verhulsdonck et al. (2026)
    Expanding Human-in-the-Loop: Critical Sensemaking for Technical and Professiona…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Basgier et al. (2025)
    From an Unsettled Middle: A Critical-Ethical Stance for GenAI-Engaged Writing A…
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Colby (2025)
    Playing the digital dialectic game: Writing pedagogy with generative AI
    Computers and Composition

Cites in this index (36)

  1. Pigg (2024)
    Research writing with ChatGPT: A descriptive embodied practice framework
    Computers and Composition
  2. Ranade et al. (2024)
    Introduction: Composing with generative AI
    Computers and Composition
  3. Sarraf (2023)
    Patterning memories of sexual violence using the #MeToo hashtag
    Computers and Composition
  4. Majdik et al. (2023)
    Building Better Machine Learning Models for Rhetorical Analyses: The Use of Rhe…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Tillery et al. (2022)
    Hyperrationality and Rhetorical Constellations in Digital Climate Change Denial…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 36 →
  1. Tham et al. (2022)
    Extending Design Thinking, Content Strategy, and Artificial Intelligence into T…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Amicucci (2022)
    #ShopSmall because #ArtAintFree: Instagram artists’ rhetorical identification w…
    Computers and Composition
  3. Gallagher et al. (2022)
    Project-Oriented Web Scraping in Technical Communication Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Graham et al. (2022)
    AI for Social Justice: New Methodological Horizons in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Huang et al. (2021)
    Using automated feedback to develop writing proficiency
    Computers and Composition
  6. Buck et al. (2021)
    I didn't sign up for your research study: The ethics of using “public” data
    Computers and Composition
  7. Tham et al. (2021)
    Metaphors, Mental Models, and Multiplicity: Understanding Student Perception of…
    Computers and Composition
  8. Graham (2021)
    Misinformation Inoculation and Literacy Support Tweetorials on COVID-19
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  9. Koenig (2020)
    The Algorithms Know Me and I Know Them: Using Student Journals to Uncover Algor…
    Computers and Composition
  10. Adams et al. (2020)
    Acting with Algorithms: Feminist Propositions for Rhetorical Agency
    Computers and Composition
  11. Omizo (2020)
    Machining Topoi: Tracking Premising in Online Discussion Forums with Automated …
    Computers and Composition
  12. Rice (2020)
    Algorithmic outrage
    Computers and Composition
  13. Shepherd (2020)
    Gaming Reddit’s Algorithm: r/the_donald, Amplification, and the Rhetoric of Sorting
    Computers and Composition
  14. Zdenek (2020)
    Metaphor 3: Transforming: Transforming Access and Inclusion in Composition Stud…
    College English
  15. Gallagher et al. (2020)
    Peering into the Internet Abyss: Using Big Data Audience Analysis to Understand…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  16. Alexander et al. (2020)
    Toward Wayfinding: A Metaphor for Understanding Writing Experiences
    Written Communication
  17. Gallagher (2019)
    A Framework for Internet Case Study Methodology in Writing Studies
    Computers and Composition
  18. Glotfelter (2019)
    Algorithmic Circulation: How Content Creators Navigate the Effects of Algorithm…
    Computers and Composition
  19. Lang (2019)
    #MeToo: A Case Study in Re-Embodying Information
    Computers and Composition
  20. Walker et al. (2019)
    Shoaling Rhizomes: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Social Media’s Rol…
    Computers and Composition
  21. Holmes et al. (2018)
    Cultivating Metanoia in Twitter Publics: Analyzing and Producing Bots of Protes…
    Computers and Composition
  22. Coad (2017)
    “That’s My Face to the Whole Field!”: Graduate Students’ Professional Identity-…
    Computers and Composition
  23. Hayes (2017)
    #MyNYPD: Transforming Twitter into a Public Place for Protest
    Computers and Composition
  24. Colton et al. (2017)
    From NoobGuides to #OpKKK: Ethics of Anonymous’ Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  25. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  26. Moore et al. (2016)
    Revisualizing Composition: How First-Year Writers Use Composing Technologies
    Computers and Composition
  27. Agboka (2013)
    Participatory Localization: A Social Justice Approach to Navigating Unenfranchi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  28. Selfe (2009)
    The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing
    College Composition and Communication
  29. Smagorinsky (2008)
    The Method Section as Conceptual Epicenter in Constructing Social Science Resea…
    Written Communication
  30. Andersen (2007)
    The Rhetoric of Enterprise Content Management (ECM): Confronting the Assumption…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  31. Burns (1983)
    A note on composition and artificial intelligence
    Computers and Composition
Also cites 16 works outside this index ↓
  1. Boettger (2018)
    Introduction to the special issue: Data-driven approaches to research and teaching in pro…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication  ↗
  2. Del Hierro (2019)
    DJs, playlists, and community: Imagining communication design through hip hop
    Communication Design Quarterly Review  ↗
  3. Goldstone (2014)
    The quiet transformations of literary studies: What thirteen thousand scholars could tell us
    New Literary History  ↗
  4. Gupta (2024)
    Assistant, parrot, or colonizing loudspeaker? ChatGPT metaphors for developing critical A…
    Open Praxis  ↗
  5. Haas (2007)
    Wampum as hypertext: An American Indian intellectual tradition of multimedia theory and p…
    Studies in American Indian Literatures  ↗
  6. Hocutt (2022)
    Localizing content: The roles of technical & professional communicators and machine learn…
    Technical Communication  ↗
  7. Hunter (2007)
    Matplotlib: A 2D graphics environment
    Computing in Science & Engineering  ↗
  8. Laquintano (2017)
    How automated writing systems affect the circulation of political information online
    Literacy in Composition Studies  ↗
  9. Lauer (2018)
    Hand collecting and coding versus data-driven methods in technical and professional commu…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication  ↗
  10. Li, L., Ma, Z., Fan, L., Lee, S., Yu, H., & Hemphill, L. (2023). ChatGPT in education: A discourse analysis o…
     ↗
  11. McKinney (2010)
    Data structures for statistical computing in python
    Proceedings of the 9th Python in science conference  ↗
  12. Messina (2019)
    Tracing fan uptakes: Tagging, language, and ideological practices in the legend of Korra …
    The Journal of Writing Analytics  ↗
  13. Mohr (2013)
    Introduction—Topic models: What they are and why they matter
    Poetics  ↗
  14. Ranade (2024)
    Using rhetorical strategies to design prompts: A human-in-the-loop approach to make AI useful
    AI & Society  ↗
  15. Whithaus (2022)
    When things collide: Wayfinding in professional writers' early career development
    Literacy in Composition Studies  ↗
  16. Zhu (2021)
    A machine learning algorithm for sorting online comments via topic modeling
    Communication Design Quarterly Review  ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2024
    Tools, Potential, and Pitfalls of Social Media Screening: Social Profiling in the Era of AI-Assisted Recruiting ↗
    Yeqing Kong; Huiling Ding
    social media artificial intelligence professional writing multilingual writers
  2. Computers and Composition Jun 2026
    Integrating generative AI in first-year writing: Lessons from a pilot initiative ↗
    Christopher McVey; Pary Fassihi; Shuang Geng; Sarah Madsen Hardy; Matthew Parfitt
    first-year composition artificial intelligence
  3. Computers and Composition Jun 2026
    “Article laundry” or “tutor in pocket?”: Multilingual writers’ generative AI-assisted writing in professional settings ↗
    Qianqian Zhang-Wu
    artificial intelligence multilingual writers
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    An Acceptance Analysis of Firms’ Posts on Sina Weibo to Build Credibility ↗
    Chenghui Wu
    multimodality social media
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    From Monologue to Dialogue: Communication Strategies of Chinese Museums on Weibo and the Imperative for Participation Awareness ↗
    Xiaole Zhu; Yoonjae Nam
    qualitative research social media