Is it 2012?

For this week’s exercise, I had to steer clear of anything that got me too fired up (for self-preservation’s sake). So, I chose a tweet from Alex Marshall as seen below:

This tweet’s content contains what to some is a reflection on something in the past, reminiscing on how it feels like just yesterday. But to those involved in this discourse, they pick up on the fact that this is actually a lyric to a song written by the two individuals pictured in this photo (Alex Marshall and Alexander DeLeon) from their band The Cab. This band went their separate ways in 2014 and did not at all hint at any sort of reunion whatsoever — until these two, along with some others involved in the band, started sharing about their trip to Bali where they are currently spending a month writing and recording God knows what. This is the first public photo of the two of them together in years. And Alexander DeLeon tweeted this the same morning:

But the timing of these tweets is what makes them the most effective. While all those that belong to the discourse knew that they were up to something, this was the first time that they addressed it themselves. It opened up a public sphere that had been dormant for the past few years.

These were some of the responses:

Most of the responses were emotional, relying on pathos. It was surprising, sort of, to see that no one was asking questions really about what they were doing or what they were up to. This stems from the discourses’ knowledge on the fact that even if they did ask they would not get an answer, or get some cheeky response such as the eye emoji Dave responded with (he is the one who took the photo).

There is not a debate that occurs from this post, but rather it opens up an old wound and is making those in this public sphere both hopeful and scared. This helps to show how kairos is involved in this public sphere because it is responding to an exigency: wanting to know what they are up to since it was clear they were all together in the same place, audience: their fanbase and followers on twitter which has historically been a quite tight-knit community, rhetors: both Marshall and DeLeon serve as the rhetors who chose to specifically post this photo with this deliberate caption to elicit a certain reaction, collaborators: the fans interacting with the tweets and the two original posters, media of delivery: both on Instagram and Twitter, other compositions: tying back to their written song.

The responses include interactions between fans who have found connection within this discourse as well as new interactions between new individuals. The ability for immediate responses and ongoing conversations between those responding to the original posts helps to circulate not only the original post but also the way that the original post is being interpreted and dissected by those interacting with it.

My response mimicked the responses that I usually get from the guys, typically very short and vague or using emojis — so I used a singular emoji to respond.