Project One: The Rhetoric Electric

The Rhetoric Electric

In a world where spending hours at a time scrolling through social media is the average, it is safe to say that many people share a good portion of their personal information online. Whether it be the location that they live in, their weekly habits, or their favorite books, it is expected that pieces of one's personality will weave its way through the posts they make. Jenny Miller, the subject of the following analysis, is no exception to this. Miller is the co-owner of The Body Electric, and The Body Electric Athletics, a yoga studio, and gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. Based on her profession, one might guess that Miller is someone who exercises frequently, and is heavily involved with her community. Looking at her social media will confirm that as true. Her Instagram shows an effort to connect with the people that she spends much of her professional time with on a more personal level. It is clear from her social media that she leads a busy life, and expresses that she has a lot of fun. What I believe she is trying to convey about herself to her audience is that she enjoys having unique experiences, and that she is a very family-oriented person who is outgoing, fun loving, and hard working.

The audience Miller is connecting with consists of a wide range of people, some of those people being attendees at her yoga studio, participants in her running club, and people who join in for yoga at the pier once a month. The way she communicates to her audience is mostly through the use of pictures, and written captions. These pictures and captions are all rhetorical devices used to aid her in her attempts to reach her audience. The three main rhetorical devices that are used throughout Miller’s posts are referred to as Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. The device Miller relies most heavily on is Pathos. This can be attributed to Miller’s effort to show a more vulnerable side of herself. The effect that Miller achieves by appealing to her audience's emotions is very impactful. She is not only showing viewers that she is human, just like them, she is gaining their trust. Miller is not typically observed to post videos on her main feed, but it can be seen more often on her story posts. She likes to interact with her audience with a lighthearted, and optimistic tone.

Pictured: Miller on a family outing at Seaworld.

While scrolling through Miller’s Instagram, you will notice a relaxed theme. That theme weaves its way through her captions, the content in her photos, and even in the way she posts. There is no apparent plan, layout, or coordination for Miller’s feed. She posts fairly frequently, with many of the pictures including her friends and family, doing things such as exercising, going to the beach, and Miller living her day-to-day life. The pictures on Miller’s feed also heavily feature her son, and the adventures she has with him. Miller’s captions consist of jokes, descriptions of the happenings in her photos, and a fair share of emojis! Her story posts are filled with the new food she tries, post workout pictures with her peers at her gym, and more pictures of, and with her child. Although she may not realize it, in posts like the ones described, Miller is utilizing the power of Pathos. Posting heartfelt pictures of, and with her family and friends, expressing the enjoyment she feels to be spending her time with them, is an example of using Pathos to appeal to the emotional side of her audience.

Pictured: Miller's son and niece in a hotel featuring a descriptive caption.

Posts with sweet captions, and endearing pictures with her son shows a side of Miller that is softer than what is shown through her posts when she is practicing the use of Ethos, and Logos. Some moments where Miller can be seen utilizing those rhetorical tools are in many of the posts in which her content shows her exercising. An example of that is Miller posting pictures after a run with the running club at the gym she owns, with a caption expressing how good it is for you, and the dates and times it is held. Miller expresses that running is healthy, and posts evidence that she can confidently say that, showing that she has experience with running. She also proclaims that she is co-owner of a gym, and yoga studio in the bio of her account, which offers more proof that she will be a credible source to get exercise information from. Miller’s audience knows she is a credible source to get that information from because she is seen in pictures with her running club, and has knowledge about the dates and times that it will occur. A post such as the one previously mentioned helps her directly engage with her peers from her professional life, and her personal life. Miller is connecting the two by offering the dates and time of the recurring event, and inviting those on her personal social media to join the club at her place of business. Miller can also be observed extending invitations to friends to join her in her exercises in the comments. This shows that she is a qualified person who isn't afraid to put her skills on display both on, and off screen. These are some ways Miller achieves her efforts of connecting her professional and personal life by appealing to her audience's sense of logic, and relieves any questions of her qualifications.

Pictured: Miller extends an invitation to exercise to a commenter. Pictured: Miller practicing the use of Ethos and Logos

Pictured: Miller utilizing Ethos and Logos through a funny advertisement.

Due to the aforementioned relaxed theme of Miller's platform, it could be assumed that there is no strict upload schedule. While that is true, it can be noticed that Miller’s posts are still posted in a timely manner. With each upload, Miller is offering a story about her life, and how she spends her time. She posts frequently, but at infrequent intervals. Miller will usually post within the following 24 to 48 hours of the event that has happened in the pictures, and sometimes even during! The dates that it occurred can usually be read in the captions. In times like this, Miller is using Kairos to cater to the timeliness, and relevancy of the event in her post. She keeps her feed up to date by posting pictures that are relevant to her life. When reflecting on a time from her past, Miller will also notify her audience of that in her captions. Examples of times Miller can be seen utilizing Kairos can be seen in the captions of the following images.

Pictured: Miller using Kairos by posting on the day the event occurred. Pictured: Miller utilizing Kairos by describing what happened that day.

It is clear from Miller's social media that she is a highly motivated individual, whose posts are an attempt to connect with her peers from her professional life on a more personal level, and display her positive traits. In an attempt to do that, she is seen using many different rhetorical tools that help her to reach her audience such as Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and Kairos. The means through which Miller uses those rhetorical devices are in her pictures and captions. Miller’s posts tug on the heart strings, while still offering security that she is a reliable person. Miller is extremely expressive, and the rhetorical decisions that she makes do a great job at influencing her audience in the direction of her goal of connecting her professional, and personal life.