Writing
is a technology itself, but it is also produced and circulated through various
other technologies. It’s really the technology that allows writing to circulate
and persist as a means of communication.
Today, this technology prevails in the form of tweets, emails, blog
posts, and Facebook statuses, but in many ways, these are merely new versions
of old technologies. For instance, in Jolly’s essay, “Women’s Peace Movement,”
a large physical gathering of women was able to coordinate and communicate with
hundreds, even thousands of other women via paper letters and postcards.
It seems that
technology flows freely to the path of least resistance when it comes to the ability
to circulate, increasing its “rhetorical velocity” as it goes. Letters and
postcards gave way to emails, which gave way to instant messaging and Twitter.
As it stands, Twitter is perhaps the most efficient form of circulation,
allowing instantaneous recording and communication of information through a
variety of media. Not only can a person communicate with writing alone, but
they can employ visual rhetoric through video and photography. Tweets can be
shared either publicly or directly to another individual. Compared to the bulk
of human history, Twitter is perhaps the most advanced and effective form of
communication known to man.
I think
that these three terms operate as a sort of tripod. Writing is shaped and
disseminated by technology, which improves circulation, which in turn inspires
more writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment