Thinking Globally, Composing Locally.
An Interview with Kirk St. Amant & Rich Rice, by Gustav Verhulsdonck
Directions: You end your introduction to the special issue of Computers and Composition by noting that the topic of "composing online for global audiences and contexts is a large one" (St. Amant & Rice, 2015, p. ix) and that you are simply starting the discussion. Where do you see future directions headed (e.g., new terminology, methodologies, study areas, etc.) and why is it important that compositionists discuss these issues now?
"I think the focus in the short term will be on individuals trying to better understand the context of composing online for international audiences. I also think friction points will remain a focus for the long term, but I also see more attention being paid to emerging media and media in development with an eye toward how the design of such media might affect composing and reading processes in international online contexts."
-Kirk St. Amant
KIRK:
I think the focus in the short term will be on individuals trying to better understand the context of composing online for international audiences—and the crux of that focus will be to identify various friction points that can affect online composing practices in international contexts in terms of how texts are composed and how they are read. I also think friction points will remain a focus for the long term, but I also see more attention being paid to emerging media and media in development with an eye toward how the design of such media might affect composing and reading processes in international online contexts. The idea is by knowing to look for friction points, we can begin to review these emerging and developing technologies with an eye toward that factor so, perhaps, we can develop an online medium in a way that would mitigate (or perhaps even remove) certain friction points that tend to affect communication practices across the widest range of international audiences.
"We're on the verge of a major tipping point in international online communication. Right now, roughly half of the world has online access, and in many nations, such access is restricted to certain regions. As more individuals and cultures get online, however, the factors affecting composing in international online spaces will only grow—rapidly and sizably."
I also think the long term will allow for more time to examine each of the 3Cs areas in more detail. Through such focused examination over time, we can better understand—and even test—the dynamics of these three areas. Doing so will allow us to develop practices that can help individuals better address how individuals compose online texts for international audiences with the goal of meeting the objective of each 3Cs area.
In terms of why do it now, my answer is because we're on the verge of a major tipping point in international online communication. Right now, roughly half of the world has online access, and in many nations, such access is restricted to certain regions. As more individuals and cultures get online, however, the factors affecting composing in international online spaces will only grow—rapidly and sizably. But, if we can begin to identify and understand key friction point areas now, then we can create strategies for identifying and—hopefully—mitigating these friction point factors. We might even be able to prevent potential friction point factors from emerging before the situation becomes more complex. Doing so won't remove friction points completely, but it can help us plan for, address, even avoid them as more nations and cultures around the world gain online access.
Moreover, we're just now beginning to explore new technologies that could revolutionize how we compose online. Virtual reality, wearable technologies, and cloud computing, for example, are still relatively new, but all have major implications for composing online. If we can better understand what aspects of a technology—both from a hard and a soft infrastructure perspective—can create friction points now, then we can devise mechanisms for identifying and addressing—or perhaps (to an extent) removing the features we know can be friction points in newer technologies. Again, the key is timing and examining such factors now, while these technologies are limited in their development or in how they are used internationally and before the number of individuals with online access grows on a global scale.
Top of Page Praxis
—webtext & interview by Gustav Verhulsdonck 2017
