Author: Erin Miller

Though we may not realize it, data centers are an indispensable part of virtually all contemporary composition and rhetorical work. For example, any scholar who studies digital rhetoric or uses their iPhone to take pictures of archival artifacts for later analysis utilizes the power of a data center somewhere in the world. Data centers happen to be so peculiar that they need yet another veiled term, “the cloud”, to obfuscate the true narrative behind how this digital infrastructure works. Behind this supposed cloud lie buildings, rare earths in hardware components, heat exhaust, water consumption, and maintenance staff keeping this infrastructure…

I’ll admit I’m probably not the first person my friends think of when they think of digital rhetorics. I’ve pulled my hair out trying to move Google Docs from one folder to another, and I avoid systems updates on my phone like the plague. I don’t have a background in coding, or website design, or video editing. My engagement with digital rhetorics is not born out of love—or even swelling interest. Instead, my first soiree into digital rhetorics was a class in my master’s program called “Internet of Garbage.” The title says it all. I was handed rose-colored glasses only…