Introduction to Special Issue: Public Argument/Digital Media

Authors

Damien S. Pfister, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Fall 2010

Comments

Published in ARGUMENTATION AND ADVOCACY 47 (Fall 2010): 63-66.

Abstract

This introductory essay to the special issue of Argumentation and Advocacy on Public Argument/Digital Media makes the case for a sustained interrogation of digitally-networked argumentation practices. To complement current scholarship on how new forms of digital mediation produce group polarization and truthiness, I suggest that argumentation scholars look at digital media as a rich source for the production and criticism of argument. Each of the essays in the special issue is then introduced by examining five cross-cutting themes that argumentation scholars may consider when examining how digital media produce networked argument practices: interactivity, instantaneity, scale, archiving, and search.