Social Semiotics - Visual Communication Online

     Social Semiotics is a methodology of communication created by Michael Holiday in his 1978 book, Language as Social Semiotics. This methodology has to do with meaning, meaning makers, and signs. Also, it connects meaning and how it is made by humans using semiotic resources, which are different signs. The three different functions every sign has are explained in the Handbook of Pragmatics by Jeff Bezemer where he says, "they express something about the world ('ideational metafunction'), position people in relation to each other ('interpersonal metafunction') and form connections with other signs to produce coherent text ('textual metafunction).". Social Semiotics are very important to the topic of communication since it focuses on context. Another reason that it is helpful is that it helps to show that verbal communication is not the most dominant form of communication. 

connections with other signs to produce coherent text (‘textual metafunction’)

position people in relation to each other (interpersonal metafunction) and form

connections with other signs to produce coherent text (‘textual metafunction’).

    One of the rules of Social Semiotics is using a set of criteria to determine the context of an image. The way I will analyze the pictures below is by looking at their representational, interactive meaning, and compositional. The representation of a photo is if it is narrative or conceptual based on what events happen around the photos. The interactive meaning of this image can be described by finding three different aspects of it, contact, distance, and point of view. The contact is the relationship between the viewer and the person/people in the photo, the distance is how far away the person/people in the photo are, and the composition is what parts of the photos have meaning. The top of a photo is the ideal information, the bottom has the real information, the right has the new information, the left has already known information, and the center puts it all together. 

    The representation part of this image is a narrative. This is due to the image referring to a larger context of Muhammed Ali winning a fight. The contact of this image is a demand, the distance is medium, and the point of view is Ali being in the middle of the frame, which shows his strength. The composition of this image is in the center, and it brings the whole meaning of the image together. 

    The representation part of this image is narrative as it is part of a larger story of people protesting the Vietnam War. The interactive meaning of this photo has a contact of demand, the distance is medium, and the point of view is from up above. This point of view is important since it shows the soldiers and protestors and how the protestors are standing up to them. The composition of this image is all put together in the center. The left section of the photo shows the known information on how soldiers would resist protests. The right side of the photo shows new information on how the protestors used flowers to get their point across. 

Sources:

Bezemer, Jeff. (PDF) Social Semiotics, Jan. 2009, www.researchgate.net/publication/286459229_Social_Semiotics.

Karlie, et al. “8 Famous Photos from History.” The Odyssey Online, 17 Oct. 2019, www.theodysseyonline.com/8-famous-photos-history.

Pescod, Adam. “Famous Photos That Changed the World.” Fleximize, 14 Nov. 2017, fleximize.com/articles/006450/famous-photos.

“Semiotics Lesson.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3XvJDxjIpU.

“Visual Social Semiotics.” Theories of Visual Communication., 2 Sept. 2016, theoriesofviscomblog.wordpress.com/visual-social-semiotics/#:~:text=Definition.,meanings%20that%20visual%20material%20contains. 

Online Arguements

 

    For this blog, I will be analyzing the arguments in the comment section of a Reddit post. The post, a picture of Jimmy Carter at his wife's funeral, was posted to the subreddit r/pics. I decided to choose this argument since I am not opinionated one way or another about Jimmy Carter. I wanted to be able to choose a topic where I did not have preconceived notions and could analyze the argument from a neutral position. 

    After going through a lot of the comments on the post, I found many smaller arguments instead of just one big one. One negative example of an argument from the post was a group of people arguing about if Jimmy Carter was a good president. This was a negative example since people used their emotions, instead of stating facts about his presidency. Another concern I have with this argument is that people kept deflecting. Instead of keeping the topic straight and continually talking about Carter, they would talk about other presidents. They would use the other president's downfalls instead of focusing on what Carter did or did not do well. Lastly, one concern I had with this argument is that people kept arguing about the actual picture being disrespectful. This was a concern of mine since people did not seem to understand why the picture was being posted. The picture was trying to show the kindness of Carter, but people kept arguing that it was disrespectful. 

Here is a link so that the reddit thread can be viewed. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1bbpxas/former_us_president_jimmy_carter_at_his_wifes/

    To argue correctly online, I have made an outline with five rules of how it should be done. The first rule will be to be respectful. By being respectful, I mean to understand that people have different opinions, and everyone has equal rights to be heard. The second rule will be to not be rude. This goes along with the first rule, but this expands on it to include not being rude and mean with how you respond to people. The third rule would be to understand what you are talking about. This is a very important rule since you cannot argue well if you don't know what you are talking about. The next rule would be to step away from the keyboard if necessary. This is a helpful rule since it will stop arguments from being led by emotions and becoming heated. The last rule would be to be an active listener. While you are not having a face-to-face interaction, it is important to listen to other people online. You want to be listened to and other people feel the same way as well. 

Sources: 

Kevin. “How Social Media Turns Online Arguments between Teens into Real-World Violence.” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 6 Apr. 2021, world.edu/how-social-media-turns-online-arguments-between-teens-into-real-world-violence/.

R/PICS on Reddit: Former U.S President Jimmy Carter at His Wife’s ..., www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1bbpxas/former_us_president_jimmy_carter_at_his_wifes/. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024. 

The Toulmin Method

    The Toulmin Method, created by Stephen Toulmin in 1958, is an explanation of different elements of an argument. The main elements that make up the Toulmin Method are claim, evidence (data), warrant, backing, qualifier, and rebuttal. Using this method can make understanding someone's argument very clear. This is due to the fact that the method can break down an argument part by part. 

    This is not only true for argumentative essays, but also for communication online. For example, the key element, the qualifier, could be used in a social media interaction. If you are trying to get a point across in a social media post, the use of the qualifier could make it so people can't find any way to go against your argument. This is done by using terms such as "in most cases" in your claim. Having this would strengthen your position since it makes it hard to find faults in it and rebut it.    

    One example of an online article that could be challenged by the Toulmin method is "2022 Subaru WRX Limited Yearlong Test Verdict: Better Than We First Thought" by MotorTrend. In this article, they are trying to argue that the 2022 Subaru WRX Limited is a fun car. One way this article can be challenged is by rebutting it and asking, "What counterarguments are here?". If you ask this, you can see that they forgot to mention what a non-car person thought. This leads to a counterargument since most people in the car market are not car people and might not find it interesting. 

    

    One negative of the Toulmin Method is that it can create an echo chamber. This is due to the fact that online communities can only post one agenda and not get challenged since everyone has the same view. A way to avoid an echo chamber is by looking at many types of media with different views. This can lead to avoiding echo chambers since you can find arguments for both sides of a story. To better understand echo chambers and how to avoid them, follow this link: https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/2023/echo-chambers-how-theyre-created-and-how-to-avoid-them/

    Critical thinking is necessary when it comes to using the Toulmin method in an online environment. First, critical thinking is necessary since it will help you to look deeper into an argument and see what the warrant and qualifier are. This is helpful since understanding these two elements of the method leads to seeing how the argument can be rebutted. 

Sources:

Brooks, David. “How to Build Strong Argumentation by Using the Toulmin Method.” Gadget Advisor, 10 Sept. 2022, gadgetadvisor.com/guides/how-to-build-strong-argumentation-by-using-the-toulmin-method/.

Morrison, Mac. “2022 Subaru WRX Limited Yearlong Test Verdict: Better than We First Thought.” MotorTrend, MotorTrend, 21 Dec. 2023, www.motortrend.com/reviews/2022-subaru-wrx-limited-yearlong-test-review-verdict/.

Pennock, Story. “Echo Chambers: How They’re Created and How to Avoid Them.” Poynter, 5 May 2023, www.poynter.org/tfcn/2023/echo-chambers-how-theyre-created-and-how-to-avoid-them/.