Rhetorical Methods and Metaphor in Viral Propaganda

Miles, Christopher

doi:10.4135/9781526477170.n11

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The analysis focused on how presenters build rhetorical appeals (Diaz Ruiz and Kjellberg 2020) by analyzing logos, ethos, and pathos (Miles 2020). For example, some presenters reference the Bible as a source of credibility (ethos), report timely prophetic revelations (logos), or present spirited defenses of Christian values (pathos).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies

Ruiz¹,

Nilsson²

2022

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

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This paper contributes to disinformation research by showing how identity-driven controversies are prime vehicles for circulating disinformation. We theorize disinformation as an engagement-driving process that encourages participation in culture wars through any argumentative means—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value-laden judgments—exploiting them rhetorically to contradict perceived opponents. Empirically, the study reports on the flat Earth echo chamber on YouTube, a controversial group arguing that the Earth is not round but flat. By analyzing their rhetorical strategies, this study shows how flat earthers animate and stoke identity-based grievances. As grudges intensify, back-and-forth argumentation becomes a form of ‘knowing’ in the world, which the echo chamber weaponizes rhetorically. The resulting argument becomes impervious to fact-checking because it is not about facts (logos) but grievances (pathos) and group identification (ethos). Hence, this investigation conceptualizes disinformation as rhetorical acts that persuade in and through the contradictions of identity work, thus animating and co-creating culture wars. The paper proposes a two-phase framework conceptualizing how disinformation disseminates in social media through echo chambers. In the “seeding” phase, malicious actors strategically insert deceptions, masquerading their legitimacy (e.g., fake news). In the “echoing” phase, participants co-create a confrontational fantasy that disseminates disinformation argumentatively.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, marketing scholars who are interested in rhetoric have been studying propaganda (Miles 2020; O’Shaughnessy 2020). As a rhetorical act, disinformation is more than spreading lies.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies

Ruiz¹,

Nilsson²

2022

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

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“…In this way the individualities adhere to an unbreakable whole, in which each one is the reflection of the others, both in their verbal and non-verbal language, and in the emotions that they experience (Berger;Milkman, 2010;Guerini;Staiano, 2015;Heimbach;Hinz, 2016). This contagion constitutes in itself a form of communication; a means to transmit our message through a deep involvement with the public (Gallardo, 2016;Storrod;Densley, 2017;Miles, 2019). Berger and Milkman (2012) found significant relationships between the content's ability to generate emotion and its ability to go viral.…”

Section: Typology Of Viral Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virality as a paradigm of digital communication. Review of the concept and update of the theoretical framework

Martín

Méndiz-Noguero

Mas

2020

EPI

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Viral communication has experienced noticeable changes since its first definition by Rushkoff in 1994. Some changes have been of such a nature that they have rendered the notions employed at the end of the last century and at the start of the 21st century obsolete. This present article tries to update and synthesize the concept of virality as the backbone of the current forms of communication and, especially, those that are born and triggered in social networks. For this we will use a classic bibliographic review methodology, which will try to investigate the background, the elements and the foundations of the concept. As a result of this revision, we will extract a new concept of viral communication, as a form of integration between the media and their messages or, also, as a form of global hybridization. In this context, the article will try to establish the theoretical foundations of virality as a paradigm of digital and connected communication. Personal communication, originally developed from leader theory and personal influence starting with contacts in close proximity (word-of-mouth), is redefined by the Internet and by the application of marketing (which has developed it under the name of permission or relational). With its rapid expansion in the early 1990s, the phenomenon of personal influence took on a new dimension. This happened mainly because the Internet is essentially a decentralized structure, where the nodes and points of influence are crucial for the flow of information. So we must think of network-based communication as a collaborative process. These forms of communication stand out for requiring personal information and allowing segmentation of the public and personalization of communication related actions.

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“Biden’s Saigon”

Pjesivac,

Imre,

Klein

et al. 2024

MSW

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This study examined the Russian state-sponsored outlet “Sputnik’s” metaphorical use in covering American withdrawal from Afghanistan to explain rhetorical devices used to disseminate discourse about Russia’s geo-political rival, the United States. Using the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), the study analyzed 28 main metaphors and metaphorical expressions in “Sputnik’s” coverage during the week of the American pullout. Metaphors such as Biden’s Saigon, puppet government, or Night of the Long Knives suggest the existence of a discourse criticizing the rival and historicizing the event. The results are interpreted in light of using metaphors in the media’s conflict coverage.

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Rhetorical Methods and Metaphor in Viral Propaganda

Cited by 4 publications

References 29 publications

Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies

Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies

Virality as a paradigm of digital communication. Review of the concept and update of the theoretical framework

“Biden’s Saigon”

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