Cyber Rhetoric and Online Ethos

Abstract

Online media often create new communication situations. That is, few formal rules govern cyberspace exchanges. For this reason, participants in online forums must often develop “rules of engagement” as they interact. Research in computer-mediated communication (CMC), however, reveals certain discourse trends—particularly related to establishing one’s credibility, or ethos—emerge in these online forums. Such trends might have important implications for how to communicate in the increasingly global environment of cyberspace.