Rhetorical Velocity and Circulation Post 9/6

wheatlmr
wheatlmr
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

When I first opened up this week’s reading, I was extremely interested because so much of what my organization does is centered around the circulation of their content. The Dodo creates content with the intent for their stories to go viral; none of this can happen without the help of their viewers resharing and tagging friends to circulate the content.

However, when I started reading the passages, I really couldn’t grip onto what the authors were saying. Whether it was the complexity of the sentences or my lack of focus, I was not fully understanding the reading. This led me to a realization of just how important the medium is for your content — which I believe was the original purpose of the reading. Had this content been in a different format, perhaps a video or maybe even a slideshow, I would’ve been much more engaged and therefore interested to circulate the content. As I was reading the information I was zoned out and uninterested in content that I very much enjoy learning more about. I found it incredibly ironic, but it truly helped me understand the importance of the medium in which content is distributed.

I did find the remixing reading particularly interesting. In his song “Note to Self” J Cole raps: “You was inspired by the world allow the world to be inspired by your s***, and to use your s***.” While this lyric may not be grammatically correct, I think it is very true. The Dodo utilizes “remixing” in almost all of their content. The Dodo receives videos from around the world about animals, and it is their job to “remix” the content to make it more appealing to their audience. I don’t know if the Dodo originally set out to have their content shared, but if not, it is definitely part of their strategy and their main source of success.

I would be interested to see what part of the Dodo’s success is due to the format of their videos and what part of their success is due to the stories they report. I would have to argue the latter.

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