ABSTRACT
This chapter bridges scholarship in circulation studies and rhetorical ethics to more rigorously ask how digital rhetoric scholars can address ethical issues related to the circulation of social media content. Our argument proceeds in three parts. First, we argue that the act of circulating content is writing; it is a performative, curatorial, rhetorical, and material practice that invites participation, assumes an exigence and audience, prompts further circulation, and so on. Second, we position recirculating content as a world-building act that has implications for public discourse in an algorithmic age. Finally, we conceptualize an ethics of circulation, arguing that sharing preexisting writing assumes and constructs a rhetorical relationship with others and thereby deserves thoughtful contemplation about what such a relationship entails. Looking particularly at how circulatory practices can amplify harm and aggression as well as solidarity and support, we elaborate on our conception of an ethics of circulation by examining two case examples—the recirculation of Donald Trump body slamming CNN and the anti-racist work that circulated after the harassment of Leslie Jones. This chapter contributes to digital rhetoric by offering a richer understanding of ethics and digital circulation: in an all-things viral age, circulating writing is always shot through with ethical consequences.
