What’s In a Blog?

Would a rhetorical situation be as sweet if it it existed on it’s own? Or do events demand a response from us, to make our own ideals and injustices more transparent to others. A third option; we are all just speaking in persuasive circles, trying to-do one another with our wit and clear understanding of rhetoric. The headache is strong in this one.

Circles are ever present in the debate on which side of rhetoric one falls. There’s a perforated circle that allows social situations and experiences into your reality, if you fall on the side of Richard Vatz. On the other, a closed circle (walled, or bordered, one might say) on the side of Lloyd Bitzer. Class discussions on which stance we feel is most like our own mentality of rhetoric are lead in circles. I feel like it clears up for one second, but as soon as I look at my notes and try to recount information from the discussion, I’m lost once again. So, like any other college student using their resources, I googled it, and was surprised to find an article discussing the ideologies of both Bitzer and Vatz’s articles from the late ’60’s – early ’70’s in the context of the ever popular social media app, Snapchat. #RelatableContent

A case study from 2014 looks into the the modern day usage of Snapchat and whether or not the users would be #TeamBitzer or #TeamVatz. They also discussed Barbara Biesecker’s thoughts, but my circle is not wide enough to understand a third point of view quite yet. I found this study interesting AND helpful, which is just a little rare in my experience. The section on nodes was most informative, and explicated the difference in the two theorists. 

The top line shows the path that #TeamBitzer users would generally follow, with the situation being the primary reason for sending the message to it’s audience. #TeamBitzer users however, show that the rhetor is the primary reason for the information being sent, as the rhetor decides what is important. They are experiencing their world and sharing what they feel is important in it with the audience that they choose, for a period of 1-10 seconds.

This case study  explicated the plethora of additions in the form of drawings, stickers, and text alike further show what team they might be. With this knowledge in hand, I finally was able to make my decision in this bipartisan discussion, and can announce that #TeamVatz is where you’ll find me. I felt a kinship with the hypothetical users of Snapchat in the case study, experiencing the world and making each second more meaningful because of what I chose to share.

Now, onto Biesecker?