Comm-211 Blog Spring 2025

     Have you ever stopped to wonder why a certain image appears in a political campaign ad or why companies carefully select which photos to use in their marketing? The answer often lies in visual rhetoric—how images persuade or convey meaning—and one powerful tool for unpacking these meanings is Social Semiotics.      Social Semiotics is a way of analyzing how meaning is made through signs and symbols within specific social contexts. While classic semiotics (from thinkers like Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Peirce) focuses on how signs represent things, social semiotics expands this by asking: Who made this sign, for whom, in what context, and why?      This methodology was largely developed by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, who applied linguistic and semiotic theory to visual design. Their work helped lay the foundation for understanding images not just as art, but as structured messages that shape and reflect cultural values, po...

In the last two decades, the internet has become more than a tool for information—it's a transformative force in how public opinion is shaped and how communication strategies are executed. With social media platforms now at the core of our digital experience, traditional top-down models of public discourse have given way to a decentralized, user-driven ecosystem. In this new landscape, every post, like, retweet, and share plays a role in influencing public sentiment and molding societal values. The Rise of Public Influence in the Digital Age Historically, public opinion was shaped by institutions: newspapers, television networks, government spokespeople. But today, everyday individuals can influence global conversations. Twitter threads trend worldwide, TikTok videos go viral overnight, and Reddit forums challenge institutional narratives. This democratization of voice has expanded who gets to participate in shaping public thought—but it’s also complicated the process. Social me...