Resisting the myths: Hashtags and Interactions as Tools of Decolonial Rhetoric

The use of social media platforms as a way of “living in the third space” (78) and digital rhetorical spaces to resist the attention economy. Odell (2017) sees attention economy as characterized by “racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, climate change denial, which are referred to as “myths and superstitions” with no basis in reality (p. 75). A rhetoric of refusal to most of these myths and superstitions can be exemplified through rhetorical actants: hashtags and engaging people through interaction can help push our decolonial agenda. This act of resistance is a rhetorical strategy in itself. (95) [GKK-14]

[Odell, 2019]

One thought on “Resisting the myths: Hashtags and Interactions as Tools of Decolonial Rhetoric

  1. Odell doesn’t connect doing nothing with hashtag activism, right?, and so, were this to extend to a 180, I would be curious about whether there are instances of hashtags galvanizing resistance to the attention economy, along the lines of the characteristics in the quotation. Do examples come to mind where a hashtag functions as a rhetorical actant in a specific way, with this context?

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