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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Circulation Of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical And Networking Strategies On Facebook, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Denise Tillery
The Circulation Of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical And Networking Strategies On Facebook, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Denise Tillery
Communication Studies Faculty Publications
This study uses a topical, rhetorical approach to analyze how climate change denial circulates online through the 25 most popular posts on the Watts Up With That and the Global Warming Policy Forum Facebook pages. These groups adopt the appearance of credibility through reposting and hyperlinking, thus establishing a supportive, networked space among other skeptical sites, while distancing readers from original sources of scientific information. Visitors use a variety of rhetorical strategies to echo posts’ main themes and to discredit alternative viewpoints. Differences between the topoi and rhetorical strategies of WUWT and the GWPF show that the climate change denial …
Is Civility Contagious? Examining The Impact Of Modeling In Online Political Discussions, Soo-Hye Han, Leann Brazeal, Natalie Pennington
Is Civility Contagious? Examining The Impact Of Modeling In Online Political Discussions, Soo-Hye Han, Leann Brazeal, Natalie Pennington
Communication Studies Faculty Publications
This study examines a way to promote civility in online political discussions through modeling discursive cues. An online experiment (N = 321) was conducted to investigate the impact of civil and uncivil discursive cues on participants’ mode of discussion. Results show that participants who were exposed to civil cues were more likely to engage in civil discourse themselves, stay on-topic, and offer additional perspectives in their comments. We also found that metacommunication (i.e., talking about the tone of discussion) engendered more metacommunication. This study illustrates the impact of modeling discursive cues and illuminates the possibility that participants in online discussion …
Analyzing Warrants And Worldviews In The Rhetoric Of Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton: Burke And Argumentation In The 2016 Presidential Election, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Gabriela Tscholl
Analyzing Warrants And Worldviews In The Rhetoric Of Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton: Burke And Argumentation In The 2016 Presidential Election, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Gabriela Tscholl
Communication Studies Faculty Publications
Combining a dramatistic analysis with the Toulmin model productively contributes to a rhetorical understanding of the 2016 presidential election and locates Burke as an integral component of political communication criticism. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's rhetoric differed not only on policy arguments, but also on their rhetorical vision for America. Trump's campaign arguments privileged the agent and thus invoked identification with an idealist worldview, while Clinton's rhetoric privileged agency and thus invoked identification with a pragmatic one. Warrants and worldviews are interconnected parts of campaign rhetoric that contribute to both persuasion and identification.