ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the multimodal composing acts are in fact noteworthy moments of digital writing that people should be paying greater attention to when considering how writing is changing in an increasingly digitally mediated world. To illustrate how writing is impacted by social media technologies, it draws on the data from over 750 survey respondents and face-to-face interviews with thirty-five survey participants to illustrate critical tensions surrounding networking rhetorics in social media technologies. The chapter illustrates how networking rhetorics in social media are multimodal composing acts with the potential for significant impacts in online and offline lives. The centrality of social media and social networks specific to the 2016 US presidential election process showcases the complexity of the multimodal composing that happens daily in the technological spaces. The choices that multimodal composers may make have become more complex thanks to the broadened reach, greater rhetorical velocity, and wider and more varied audiences prevalent in social media.
