Click Bait, Cancel Culture, and the Rhetoric of Civic Discourse
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
PARB 128
Proposal
YouTube Creator culture and the reach of social media has radically changed the public town square. A wide swath of YouTube pundits with little more than a web cam and an internet connection can garner a viewership that rivals traditional mainstream media outlets that spend millions on production. What seems to be an escalation in the culture war and the demise of civic discourse could, in part, be a symptom of big tech's dominance over the modes of communication and dissemination of information. In this 20 minute presentation, we will explore the terms and conditions in this new public square, examine how to facilitate information literacy in a "click bait" media landscape, and demonstrate how Aristotle's ancient art of rhetoric can help guide citizens back to a meaningful space of nuanced, critical thinking and civility.
Presentation Description
What seems to be an escalation in the culture war and the demise of civic discourse could, in part, be a symptom of big tech's dominance over the modes of communication and dissemination of information. In this presentation, we will explore the terms and conditions in this new public square, examine how to facilitate information literacy in a "click bait" media landscape, and demonstrate how Aristotle's ancient art of rhetoric can guide citizens back to a meaningful space of nuanced, critical thinking and civility.
Keywords
Click bait, fake news, mainstream media, cancel culture, YouTube, civility, civic discourse, public square, social media
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Parker Beard, Jeannie C. Ph.D., "Click Bait, Cancel Culture, and the Rhetoric of Civic Discourse" (2020). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 19.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2020/2020/19
Click Bait, Cancel Culture, and the Rhetoric of Civic Discourse
PARB 128
YouTube Creator culture and the reach of social media has radically changed the public town square. A wide swath of YouTube pundits with little more than a web cam and an internet connection can garner a viewership that rivals traditional mainstream media outlets that spend millions on production. What seems to be an escalation in the culture war and the demise of civic discourse could, in part, be a symptom of big tech's dominance over the modes of communication and dissemination of information. In this 20 minute presentation, we will explore the terms and conditions in this new public square, examine how to facilitate information literacy in a "click bait" media landscape, and demonstrate how Aristotle's ancient art of rhetoric can help guide citizens back to a meaningful space of nuanced, critical thinking and civility.
