Rhetoric is Our Currency

This is the TedTalk I am referencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9u-TITxwoM

 The other day, I was doing some research for another class when this TedTalk began playing on YouTube. Interestingly enough, I was in the other room when YouTube started to play this video after the previous two had played automatically. (Read: Digital rhetorics literally is out to get me).

It wasn’t until our last meeting that I remembered the video and thought it was appropriate for a blog. So, I looked it up. It so happens to be an excellent example of what we have been talking about all semester.

            In this TedTalk, Kevin Bacon talks about using the internet as a means of connecting for the better good of humanity. He talks about how a Paul Newman's tomato sauce made him think introspectively about what he was doing for the world. He says he recalls asking himself, “What have I done that has been branded with me?” That made me think, “What is the legacy that I can pass on through my rhetoric in this multimodal world?” Kevin bacon makes a good point that we should harness what we have to give back to the world. Bacon has his fame. He is harnessing his fame, his available means of persuasion, to appeal via the internet to multiple diverse crowds.

           

The Internet is ours.

The internet allows us to be whoever we want. It gives us opportunities that were never there before the internet existed. It allows celebreties like Kevin Bacon and regular people to level in ways like interests, struggles, philanthropy, and etcetera. The internet unmasks everyone. It shows the world that we all are regular people was are just trying to feed our families and make their place in this grueling world. I really liked how Bacon says, “How about if regular people can become celebs for their own causes?” The internet allows this “connectivity [that] is just as valuable as dollars and cents.” The internet is a place where rhetoric is our currency. The best part about it: its available to all. The internet is a place where we can be the king of our own jungle.

There is a regular kid, Matt Diaz, who started a Facebook with the intentions of helping others feel better about who they are. He was 495 pounds at his heaviest at 16 years old, and lost 270 pounds. The reason Matt set up this facebook page was because he is very proud of his work and wants to encourage the world and share his success. The only problem: his excess of skin that drooped from his frame since the massive weight loss. He posted a touching video that unveiled the true shape of his body, lagging skin and all. Matt started crying and admitted that he was terrified to show the world his body. The support he received through comments was monumental. Now, Matt has so many donators and people interested in his cause that he is in the process of setting up consultations to have the excess skin removed (the procedure may have been done already). Not only has the internet allowed Matt to become his own celebrity, it has also allowed him to use rhetoric as a means of currency that he can use for the betterment of the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbkMmWy3Wk <If you are interested in this kid’s amazing story.

In Kevin Bacon’s closing line, he says that we created the internet to stay connected. He says that we need to keep thinking about ways we can use the internet “as a source for good.” I think this is spot on. As rhetoricians, I believe that it is our duty to use our skill of writing and rhetoric to enhance the world. Options are limitless. Its time to be become active consumers and producers of the Internet.

“Footloose!”