Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity

Carnegie, T.A.M. “Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity.” Computers & Composition Sep2009, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p164-173

In his article, Teena Carnegie of Eastern Washington University addresses the rhetoric of interface, arguing that where new media is created, it functions as what he calls an “exordium to engage users and to dispose them to persuasion.”  Via thorough exploration of the varying areas in which computer software meets people, Carnegie argues that there exists a set of three modes of interactivity: manipulability, multi-directionality and presence.  In categorizing these “modes,” she qualifies the areas where classical rhetorical terms apply to design and software technology.  She purports that the power of techno-rhetoric lies in its growing invisibility as the persuasive techniques that are imbedded in the communication design also employ subtle manipulation. Carnegie applies the tools of classical rhetoric so that users might remain hyper-aware of the various degrees of engagement in order to identify the locus of power. 

Although this article seems fitted best for tech-comm or otherwise digitally savvy audiences, it serves my research in that it addresses the connection between classical rhetorical concepts and modern applications in new media communication.  Where travel blogs are concerned, what this article suggests is that no matter the genre of writing applied to a website, there is some degree of persuasion that enables its popularity.  Carnegie’s synthesis of what makes the interface invisible, thus suggesting the ubiquitous nature of the rhetorical constructs therein, makes clear the necessity of closely analyzing the content in order to be completely savvy to all messages implied or inferred.  A necessary element for my research is addressing this effect of the digital application of language and how it may or may not complicate an already-complex rhetorical issue.  In order to examine this element, Carnegie has done a degree of the applicable work in this article.