Storytelling and the Rhetoric of Rumor in Social Media

Abstract

Social media rumor is becoming a prominent spectacle thanks to the rapid surge of internet usage worldwide. However, little research has been done so far that takes social media rumor into account. This chapter attempts to understand the nature and narrative of social media rumor. The discussion revolves around three important and interlaced concepts: social media storytelling, social media rhetoric, and social media rumor. The chapter attempts to show that a story requires rhetoric to be successful and most of the rumours are successful stories because they contain rhetorical elements. To understand the storytelling and rhetorical aspects of social media rumors, remarks based on three prominent cases of social media rumors are presented. The conclusion is that social media rumors are more literary, have more emotional elements than logical proofs, and the structure is meticulously designed to have specific impacts. These features echo disinformation, an important mode of rumor.