sponsored by

Hosted by
eROI

The Rhetorical Web
by Patricia Miller

What is Rhetoric? Why should those of the Web even care about Rhetoric? More to the point, what does this have to do with making a Web site purposeful and/or profitable? Show me the gold.

I was recently sitting in a company lunchroom, burrito in hand with nothing to read. Scooping the room for reading materials, I found just one magazine to fill my idle mind and grazing time. The magazine was "Outside", http://www.outsidemag.com, reporting about exotic vacation destinations and daring sports for those who intellectually mull around the idea of being a real Indiana Jones. We are intelligent and discerning by profession, yet we tempt our mortality while on vacation. In the January issue 2001, I found a piece of gold.

After adding a bit of fire sauce to my meal, I began to flip through the pages of the magazine - an Island article (who doesn’t like to see white sandy beaches with lapping brilliant blue waters), stories on Alaska, Africa, K2 and dolphins. What finally caught my eye, and sauce driblets, was a silly caricature drawing of a woman reading poetry in the woods. Hum, why the silly drawing? I took a closer look and noticed something revealing - this orator was naked.

The Rhetorical Web - the naked truth about the Web and money

How is the Web Rhetorical? Every site implies a need of acceptance. Every site must generate a trust factor. Our Web market place needs to start showing a profit.

Every site first attempts to persuade. We must persuade a visitor to either accept our site as an authority for information or we are asking them to buy. Maybe we even ask them to do both. We must persuade our visitor to listen to us, possibly respond to our information, or even to use their money on our product or services. We are asking them to do something. The question is how will we do this? The stock market claims that we haven’t been persuasive enough to make a profit.

Show me the money. It hasn’t been in dot coms companies as of late. Our local Portland market place has many examples of companies that are cutting back and tightening the belt. Web stocks are considered volatile investments. The financial world needs to be convinced that Web marketing can produce profits. How will we generate these profits?

Privacy - its every site’s burden to persuade security

Let us consider the subject of consumer expectation as it relates to the subject of personal privacy. At a recent meeting of Internet Professionals Northwest, Adam Ross, J.D. of the law firm Lane Powell Spears Lubersky, brought to our attention the need for every site to address the consumers need and expectation of privacy during informational and currency exchanges. He made the following statement in his presentation:

’At the World Internet Project held on the campus of UCLA, the Center for World Communication Policy announced that two-thirds of Web users fear misuse of private information when they go online. The result is a reduction of purchases and profitable transactions conducted on the Web.

In response to consumer fears, the next version of Windows will feature an option that enables an easy user system setup that ensures a dictated personal data set.’

No matter how personalized your site may be, two-thirds of all Web users need to be assured that your site is solid about your privacy policy and data stream.

Washington is watching and not waiting. In the ’Tech’ section of the February 12, 2001 issue of the Oregonian, the article "Officials tackle Internet privacy" details the Michigan Attorney General’s attention to the privacy issue, potentially setting precedence for other state courts. According to the story "Granhom and other attorney generals want Internet companies that place cookies to say so clearly on their Web sites. They also want laws that allow consumers to decide whether to share their personal information with Internet companies".

Red Herring, recently wrote an explanation of the legal and functional implications of privacy and Web site development. In the January issue the article ’Privacy Matters’, by Luc Hatlestad, he claimed "Make no mistake about it: 2001 will be the year of the great privacy debate. The problem is simple. Companies need to glean information that will help target sales."

How will we glean this information? What information will help to make a profit?

Questions

·-What will we do differently to increase consumer confidence about financial transactions on the Web that we have not been doing already?

·-How do we persuade visitors that we are knowledgeable, creditable, and trustworthy?

·-How will our site(s) make persuasive impact that results in sales?

Answer

We use all the available means, not just words, to persuade. We use rhetoric. Unless we begin to incorporate more of the social sciences into our technological marketplace, our profits may suffer. We need to play a lot smarter.

Rhetoric: A Definition of Terms - The Smart Woman Behind the Cloth

The article I read was about a woman who wants to save the last 1% of the remaining old growth trees in California. Nothing new... except her method of persuasion is pure Rhetoric. She has chosen to go deep into the woods, where the timber is being cut. She stands there, drops her sarong and begins to read poetry in the buff to timber cutters. They do stop. They do listen. During that time, they are not cutting trees.

Why is this a perfect example of Rhetoric? She has chosen a viewpoint, other than that of her audience’s. She must persuade change and provoke action (Ok, no cutting of trees in this case.). She has reviewed her options to persuade, implements a plan, and successfully stalls the cutting with her action.

Ok, so there is this woman running around, less a sarong, in the California old growth forests. She has a purpose. She has a cause. Is this really persuasion? I asked Dr. Randall Havas, Philosophy Professor at Willamette University about Rhetoric and it’s definitional source according to the ancient Rhetors. He responded:

"I would guess that Aristotle is most people’s source for the ’rhetoric is the art of persuasion’ quote. At 1355b26-7, Aristotle writes, "Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.

"…the poor philosopher spends his days worrying about arguments like, ’All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore Socrates is mortal’. The contemporary rhetorician, by contrast, gets to worry about W.’s ties and their effect on the electorate or about the nature of desire as articulated in Vivid videos. There are more rhetoric majors than philosophy majors. And I’d not be surprised to find that plenty of the former have been busy working away on the rhetoric of the worldwide Web."

Actually Professor Havas, some of us are still looking for companies that understand the term and it’s implications. We’re still looking for jobs.

Rhetoric is the study of persuasion. It is not just the use of words, which persuade. It is reviewing your purpose, knowing your audience, and gathering the most effective means to persuade a specific audience. If the Web market place is going to be more profitable, it must incorporate the knowledge of the arts and sciences. We are humans first. We have responded over the ages with certain methods of persuasion. It is not just words, and our use of words, that persuade.

Know Your Audience - If a sarong falls, does anyone hear it?

If Rhetoric is the study of all means of persuasion, what does that mean? Let’s step back into the woods. Our team of "Goddess Squaddess", as they like to call themselves, hasn’t just used poetry to persuade. Oh, some may claim to REALLY be listening to the words, I’m just not convinced. When the cloth hit that Eden’s floor, how many heard the poetic metaphor?

Persuasion is not just words. It takes into consideration many variables, so many I surely can’t do them justice in a single writing. I can say that our example of La Tigresa demonstrates that more than just using words can persuade. She used design. Her sarong was reported to be a "faux-tiger skin print". This choice of print is representative of something wild in the woods, just as she herself would appear to be. She used dramatic imagery. I’m sure that the loss of ones "faux-tiger skin" sarong would be surprising and shocking, enough to make you stop in your tracks.

She knew when and where to show up. How disappointing to do such a vivid reading to a bunch of squirrels, raccoons and possible meandering deer. She calculated the time and place of her stage.

She knew exactly how to stop a timber cutter. She did it. She used all the available means that she could imagine. She incorporated sight, sound, and design. She did use words; yes with dramatic inflection I am sure. It wasn’t only the words - it was rhetoric: using all available means to persuade. She used more than words to persuade.

Know the Context : When the tiger is hungry - The tiger will bite

I would like to mention one more persuasive device that La Tigeresa used, and maybe not witnessed amongst the trees, the logic of argument.

During reporter Bill Vaughn’s interview with the tiger, ( …you knew it would be a man!) he asked about some statistical information. Specifically, he wanted to know the size of her claws ( … you know that wasn’t it, but for the sake of decency let’s just say that was it.). Without hesitation, this vixen of rhetoric began to recite logging statistics, knowing she would be quoted in a national magazine. She stated, " Let me recite some other numbers instead. Numbers like 99, which is the percent of the old-growth forests of California that have been logged. Numbers like 1,000, which is the age of some of the trees dragged to the back of the trucks. And let’s just say I’m stacked."

She saw her opportunity to present her facts and statistics, and took it. Statistics were for the magazine article, poetry for the timber cutters. I’m sure she paid nothing monetarily for the space in the article to make her statistical claims of old growth forest devastation. This girl had strategic timing, understood the context and logical argument for that context.

Know Your Food Chain
Every opportunity to be persuasive isn’t just our Web screen. We must have vision to see a stage for our performance when it presents itself. Yes, every employee must understand that they make a statement about the company; everywhere they go and in everything that they do. Everyday someone walks onto a stage, not realizing the stage and/or crowd. The audience is watching and rating the performance. Are your employees ready to perform on and off of the Web?

I recently heard someone criticize corporate clothing, the ones with the company logo on the pocket. To them, the shirt appeared to be impersonal and unstylish. Let me just say, I know someone that is employed right now that is wearing a corporate shirt, and someone that isn’t that is wearing his own designer t-shirt. The corporate shirt may not have a designer logo, but they reinforce the company visually and place the employee on a stage as a performer responsible for the company’s image and profits. I admit that I am not fond of the corporate uniform, but I remember the people that come into my office that have a corporate shirt. Those UPS people get around, you can’t miss them. Brown has almost become more than the color of brown.

There is another audience that is just waiting for us to reach, the alter-abled. I recently found an incredible book of legal mandates, standards and HTML. Wonderful rarely is a word found in the same sentence with HTML and mandates, but this book warrants the placement. The book is "WEB Accessibility for People with Disabilities by Michael G. Paciello. (http://www.Webable.com) The cover is a live action photo of a custom tricycle rider high speeding it down a country road, a visual metaphor. Why make your site accessible? According to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Director Tim Berners-Lee, and inventor of the Web, there are more than 750 million people with disabilities.(http://www.w3.org/) At the World Wide Web Conference in 1997 the following Tim Berners-Lee stated "As we move towards a highly connected world, it is critical that the Web be usable by anyone, regardless of individual capabilities and disabilities."

This market is out there, and growing. Does your site speak to their code requirements?

Bill - He saw the faux-print, and it wasn’t rhetoric

Our man Bill Vaughn is a reporter for Outside. He had a short article to write about this poet in the woods with a cause. Should he use a problem vs. solution outline? Would he need to interview timber workers for testimonials? Did he need to review the history of the timber debate? He chose the question and answer method. He’d write a short preview, generate some obvious questions, and poise them directly to the main subject. As a reporter he needed to bring scope and imagery to his readers. He also had a deadline and limited word spacing.

Journalism is reporting, not necessarily Rhetoric. News informs of some event in time. It is the "who", the "what", "where", "when" and "why". It attempts to recreate without editorializing the people, place and time of happenings.

Editorials make claims and are Rhetorical.

Which way to the old growth?

Technical writing is expository, not Rhetoric. Technical writing attempts to explain the "how", "where", and "what" of any particular product or procedure. Expository writing defines in words and creates visualizations through the use of pictures and diagrams. The goal of technical writing is to educate.

Does it naturally follow that Technical writers persuade by perpetuating an image of authority of their subject?

I recently read an article that expounded the virtue of technical writers as being the best writers for the Web. I would refute that point and claim that writers are the best writers. I’d even say that someone that has studied Rhetoric or Philosophy would be the better writer for the Web than a technical writer. Certainly the technical writer is the best choice from the dug out when considering our current options, usually designers or engineers.

Socrates and Plato knew what they wanted to say, they knew to whom they wanted to communicate, and it then was a debate about how to communicate knowledge. "Control the people that control the language," they said. Are technical writers the controllers of our human language? (I’m checking the background of the author I just read, maybe even the last Caldecott winner . I wonder if they have any technical writing experience?) Some technical writers may have what it takes to create persuasive Web writing that generates conviction in the Web visitor. I’m simply saying technical writers may not be the only and best choice.

Be the Tiger in Your Woods

How may we increase our credibility as authorities on any given subject on the Web? What can we do to satisfy the expectations regarding privacy for our visitors? What have we not been doing as an industry that needs to be implemented?

I’d like to suggest a few things that may be tried to increase your Rhetorical presence on the Web.

Making a profit from humanities

I recently read an interview in the January issue of Wired, "The New ID", . The company they interviewed was IDEO. The following is a description of what IDEO says that they do and how they do it.

"Based on intensive user observations, IDEO identifies opportunities for innovation and evaluates new ideas through rapid prototyping. We offer complete innovation and design services, from strategy and concept development to engineering and production.

IDEO’s multidisciplinary teams include specialists from fields including human factors, cognitive psychology, business strategy, design planning, industrial design, interaction design, graphic design, architecture, mechanical and electrical engineering, software, and manufacturing."

The article gives an example of a client business card that the company produced. This one card actually took a blood sample, "sealing" the deal with authentic DNA material. Another business card took a "Don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you" type of approach. There was no identifying information, just an 800 number. IDEO had met the needs of their clients. One sought to be unquestionably identifiable and accurate about his portrayal, the other was seeking privacy to the point of being undetected. Not every client desire is the same. Not every client product generated by your service should be the same.

I wrote to the company in regards to Rhetorical internships. Mr. Scott Underwood replied, "We’ve had rhetorical interns before, we’ve just not recognized them as such. Seriously, though, our interns are generally graduate design or engineering students."

Professor Havas, they are hiring from the school of art and engineering. I’m not hearing about the philosophy or rhetoric internships. They may have recognized the need for a dentist, but the contractor had a big belt and was great with a hammer.

To IDEO’s credit, I must say they are wise to see the human implications of product development. They are very successful. They are hiring cognitive psychologists. Maybe some day they will hire Rhetoricians and Philosophers as well.

If the Web community is going to see a profit, we must do something different.

Rummaging on the Web

I really do surf, on a board in the waves. So I prefer to call Web searching "rummaging for goodies". The last time I rummaged, I was wondering about social science studies as they applied to human computer interaction. I began to dig through the bins.

I found a white paper which was later published under the title "Computers, Communication and Usability: Design issues, research and methods for integrated services" (North Holland Series in Telecommunication) Elsevier: Amsterdam (1993).
ftp://ftp.mrc-apu.cam.ac.uk/pub/amodeus/design/d03/D3.1.rtf

Some where on page 15 of this 1993 document, I found a graphic that demonstrated a design theory used today by 2001 Web optimization tools. At the University of York, researchers found that if the user could consider a design predictable, efficiency of action would result. Their psychological research claimed the following:

"In order to begin the discussion of usability requirements, we consider the principle of predictability that has been discussed in the preceding chapter and elsewhere (Harrison & Dix, 1990; Sufrin & He, 1990; Abowd, 1990). Expressed in agent-neutral terms, predictability is a general property of interactive systems that concerns the ease with which one agent can predict the effect of an action on another agent. The principle requires that the agent should not be ’surprised’ by the effect of an action, given that the agent knows the general effect of the action and the agent engages with the current event."

Webcriteria shared some of their methods for reviewing the efficiency of a Web site at the IPN October forum. One of their criteria’s was consistency of design. Consistency of design generates an atmosphere of predictability for a user. Predictability of design decreases frustration and retains the visitor on the site.

If the Web is going to be more profitable, we must begin to implement the strategies of the human sciences. Furthermore, we must begin to critically analyze the methods we use for optimization. If research methods were used to produce Web standards, question the criteria and variables of the studies that appear to justify them. Begin to ask the "how" and "why" of our optimization tools. What variables did they use in the research? Were these variables independent or dependent variables? Did the study use a control group? How was the control group identified and used? Begin to educate yourself about the threats to the validity of experimental research.

All research is not created equal. If the Web is going to be more profitable, we must begin to implement the strategies of the human sciences intelligently and accurately.

Proof (and Profit) is in the pudding - taste testing

I am sure we all know the value of beta testing. We have even been beta testers.

Beta testers give us a view of what is to come. They suggest changes that improve our product or service. They help us to meet the needs of our intended audience.

During the depression, my Grandmother was a Betty Crocker beta tester. Her kitchen was a "Betty Crocker" test kitchen. Her husband would get the recipe and ingredients from General Mills bring them home, and she would attempt to recreate the product from their instructions/ingredients. She would suggest changes in the length of cooking times, supplement with an alternative ingredient, or change the depth of the pan. In return for her efforts, she’d get some coupons.

Betty Crocker used beta testing to improve their products. Grandmother not only tested the ingredients, she analyzed every part of the cooking experience.

We usually study function in beta testing, why not cultural impacts? A "cultural experience beta tester" is someone who can review the potential impact a site may have on a specific target audience culture.

I heard a story that could have used a cultural experience beta tester. It involved a raucous over the use of a sombrero. Let us just say it was for a South American Country, and anyone interested in that country. The Web developer admitted to sitting on a conference call with several parties on either end of the phone conversation, with the heated discussion primarily over the use of a sombrero in the design.

We didn’t go much into the details of the scenario, but it was admittedly a tense moment for the project. I am supposing that it wasn’t the actual sombrero that was insulting, but the use and placement of the said sombrero. Regardless, I would suggest that hiring a cultural studies Major from the local university, for even a quick review, might have helped the situation. Your client should not be the cultural beta tester.

A ’cultural interface’ is the realization that you are not meeting the norms of a particular culture (…corporate cultures included here.). It is the awareness of not meeting the cultural standards as the action is transpiring. This awakening happens at the moment that you are committing the grievance. Cultural Beta Testers can reduce your risk of cultural interface.

Go to the people that you are intending to reach and ask them first. Admit that you are not the expert about their thoughts and needs, and ask for their opinion. Never assume that you know your audience, especially foreign cultures.

There are many more ways in which we may increase our credibility and persuasiveness on the Web. I’ve only mentioned a few. Rhetoric is not just words; it assumes all methods of persuasion will be contemplated and reviewed for implementation.

Other Considerations That Improve Rhetorical Presence

·-Writing Principles: such as the "Couey Principle" - Use sentences that on the average are short, generally no longer than 17 words. *

-Psychology Research: Know its limitations and validation tests. For example, Correlational Research - "…correlation does not necessarily mean that there is a causal relation between to events or measures." **

-Communication Theory: "If-I-Were-Him" Theory - The theory assumes that communication will be successful if the communicators can place themselves in the position of the receiver and then communicate appropriately. The shortcoming of this theory is that it overlooks the fact that different people respond in different ways to the same situation.

-Usability: Code for the tools of the alter-abled, meet the demands of this rising market niche

-Privacy Matters: Address the issue early on your site to gain credibility. Without credibility, your sales will not move. In the absence of laws and unified standards, educate your visitor and establish your integrity.

-Read: Everyone knows that knowledge is power. Make the time to read. (Suggested Readings are mentioned below.)

As I’ve mentioned there are many ways that humanities aid our means of persuasion. It is simply impossible to begin to list them here, but fascinating to review.

It’s What We Do, Not What We Say We Do

How many Web sites have you visited that had spelling errors? How many also had poor sentence structure? Are there spelling and grammar issues even in my writing that has made you flinch? I don’t claim to be a writer, or speller, or grammatically correct. Quite frankly, I suffer from dyslexia and dyslexic jokes. I’m never sure that I have communicated anything quite clearly. What I can do is ask for help from those whom are better than myself. It’s been said that a great leader is one that can appoint incredible people for the specific tasks.

We must first recognize that we are not great at everything. Accept that group efforts usually produce a higher quality product. Seek the knowledge of those whom are the experts in their fields.

Reading gains knowledge, and knowledge is power. I asked for further information about the Web and topic of Rhetoric from the staff at Willamette University. Dr. David Douglas, Professor of Rhetoric responded with two publications. (Listed below)

I then went to Powell’s technical books to read more before writing this piece. Both publications were not available. One had never been offered at the store. Both had never been sold at the "technical store" One very helpful employee, not wishing to be named, said, " We don’t stock’em because they don’t sell. These people want code." There was a funny little laugh with the delivery too.

Code gets the words up on the Web. Know your words and code.

English majors should be on staff or hired periodically while projects are in development.

The Web’s Rhetorical Limitations

Just as the days have only so many hours, we all work with the same constraints of the Web.

Every time a user logs onto the Web, they visit site after site containing different design orientations. There are no set design patterns that we all follow. The Web is unpredictable for the user. The experience on the Web is a constant reorientation of images and practices. It is similar to using multiple day planners and attempting to find the weekly calendar section in each.

I’m not suggesting that there should be one set of formatting requirements for design on the Web. I am simply claiming that the lack of constancy throughout the Web affects the sustainable visit of any user to any one site. The constant requirement for a visitor to reorient himself or herself to the design could be a self-defeating process for our users and result in termination of the Web experience.

The Web has no formal federal requirements regulating privacy. There are no guidelines spelling out what to do, listing what we should include, or official "seal" of final approval. For now, we are simply asked to observe the policy that our site posts. We are asked to keep our own word. Post a privacy policy and follow it.

This industry also has a lot of acronyms. There is potential for miss-communication merely by the methods we use to communicate. The use of acronyms brings us one step farther from what we are saying. It is an abbreviation of the actual word. It may, or may not, appear to imply the word it represents. There is potential for miss communication and lack of comprehension merely by the means that we use to communicate.

Define your terms. If you don’t know what someone is talking about, ask him or her. Never fear asking for clarification of terms. Buy and carry a Web dictionary.

As we become familiar with the use of acronyms in our Web corporate culture, our Web sites may become comfortable with their use as well. The Web is full of sites that abbreviate for the sake of space and use of images. What may appear to be an "industry standard" for an abbreviation should not be assumed to be standard for your target audience.

Conclusion

The Web is Rhetorical. We must persuade our visitor that we are an authority on any given subject. We must establish credibility of the content. We must address and satisfy the fears regarding personal privacy.

What are the methods that we will implement to persuade our audience to participate and/or purchase? I believe that with the aid of human sciences we will begin to make a profitable impact on the Web market place. As we melt the understanding and wisdom of these sciences into our processes of development, a more persuasive product will emerge.

The next phase of our Web development will need to melt technology with the human experience. The methods used in rhetoric, human psychology, and philosophy are not new, they are proven. Whether we choose to use that knowledge will make the difference between the profitable and the expendable Web experience.

Red Herring, "Privacy Matters", Luc Hatlestad, January 16, 2001, pg.48

* Reference found in the publication, Getting Your Message Across, A Practical Guide to Business Communication, by Craig E. Aronoff, Otis W. Baskin, Robert W. Hays, and Harold E. Davis, West Publishing Co. 1981, Page 33

**Psychology, by Ronald E. Smith, West Publishing Co., 1993, page 42

***One of many "Common-Sense" Theories of Communication, Getting Your Message Across, A Practical Guide to Business Communication, by Craig E. Aronoff, Otis W. Baskin, Robert W. Hays, and Harold E. Davis, West Publishing Co., 1981, Page 15

Suggested Readings

WEB Accessibility for People with Disabilities, by Michael G. Paciello, CMP books, 2000, http://www.Webable.com

Culture of the Internet, edited by Sara Kiesler, 1997

The World Wide Web, by Babara Kaye and Norman Medoff, 1999