As I mentioned in my forum post for this section, I really enjoy the moments in Harris’s book where he encourages his readers to be civil while countering the viewpoints (specifically the writing) of others. I’m also really impressed by McCulloch’s generous nature toward her readers and those that disagree with her (who I think are also her target audience), as well as her stance on the value of informal writing. This civility had me thinking more about the different ways that we take part in civil discourse online, specifically the more humorous and lighthearted ways in which we, as a society, play a role in the larger conversation while at the same time trying our best not to take ourselves too seriously.
I’m sort of late to the twitter game so I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Wendy’s twitter feed (yes, the burger chain), and how absolutely hilarious some of their tweets are. Especially the ones to their critics, who they roast like a smoooooooth operator.
It has me thinking about how good these sorts of informal writing are for the soul sometimes and how the ability to laugh at ourselves is still as important it’s ever been and healing, in its own way, too. Gabran Gray writes about this in his article on Film Daily entitled, “Wendy’s Twitter Account is Straightfire.” He talks about how often the corporate accounts on twitter can be boring and offer little in the way of humor and how Wendy’s twitter feed is the antithesis of that.
Perhaps the funniest part of all is how the long-lived burger joint doesn’t only go after other corporations and competitors with their tweets, but also at everyday citizens of the public, which just really is the icing on the funny cake for me. I just love that no one is exempt from embarrassment and turns out, it’s been working for them as a marketing strategy for years (Gray). And the audience just keeps coming back and chiming in. Genius.
So, I suppose that, from this, we can take away that one way to engage in a sort of civility online, is through the gift of humor and, in turn, a deeper connection with others through laughter. That seems important and it shines a light on the “goodies” that can be found within informal writing.
Gray, Gabran. “Wendy's Twitter Account is Straightfire: Peek at some of their best tweets.” Film Daily, 30 Apr. 2021, https://filmdaily.co/memes/wendys/. Accessed 4 June 2021.
Yes! Humor is so important for these conversations. And (as you remember from our previous course together!), humor is so powerful when it comes to social critique, etc. This particular account isn't "social critique," but it sure shows how good humor is a rhetorical skill. I love that Wendy's twitter has this hilarious, cool persona. And I use that word--persona--intentionally. It's like a character? And it's not "Wendy," which is also interesting! Someone write a paper on this. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love the kind of humor that drags someone but you (if you are the drag-ee) can't even be mad because it's so funny and not too mean.
Excellent post!
I totally get what you mean about humor being good for the soul, and honestly I think this is exactly the point McCulloch is trying to make in the last few pages of this chapter. Informal writing is not only opening the doors to more creative ways of communicating, but also bringing people together as a new kind of community built upon understanding.
ReplyDeleteThat’s hilarious! I agree without informal writing jokes would be hard to tell especially after the chapter on emoji’s. informal writing is important to people because it gives us a chance to be creative. It’s really interesting that they have one person speaking for all of the Wendy’s! I also love Harris's view on civility. I think it’s important even if you disagree with someone to look at their argument and not stoop low and attack them as a person.
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