Erika Lindemann said that rhetoric is a form of reasoning about probabilities, based on assumptions people share as members of a community. “506 – I just watched a girl in the library pull a vodka bottle out of her bag. I think I’m going to give her my number” (tfln.com). Applying Lindemann’s hypothesis to the popular web site Texts From Last Night seems like a bit of a stretch. The open-door policy the web site employs makes it questionable that it would even contain any sort of argument. However, the site contains a loyal following, all members of the community that is the American university. These members remain nameless, only to be identified by the area codes of their cell phones. Regardless, they have created, shaped, and projected a sense of hegemony through their posts, and in doing so, have laid the foundation for a new brand of talk on the Internet through the aid of hyper personalization. Rhetoric plays a role as TextsFromLastNight.com fits and defines perfectly the five elements of rhetoric.
What the crude posts of Texts From Last Night evoke is homogeny in the college scene. Despite vast regional differences, students across American campuses are succumbing to the image that the site comprises. Such aspects of the image include obvious wit, a dauntingly careless level of promiscuity, the will to binge drink and do drugs, while maintaining intelligence and some level of higher wealth in an intelligent subconscious. The goal of TFLN is to elicit a sense of belonging and in essence, of community. In his article entitled “Cultural Hegemony,” Damien Perrotin argues “…that the structure of society is not only defended through political or economic coercion but through a hegemonic culture in which the values of the bourgeoisie – or of any ruling class – becomes a kind of generalized “common sense”, the end result being that even those sections of the population which have a vested interest into changing the status quo actually actively help to maintain it” (Perrotin 2010). Such “common sense” is the phenomenon that such shocking behavior go on allowed and unquestioned by its community members. “303 – if I die I am blaming you for not answering to tell me how many horse tranquilizers to take.” The nonchalant nature of the posts maintains the image by seemingly jading its readers. By keeping the site anonymous, users post without attaching profiles or any attributes by which they may be judged; such selective personal communication allows readers and members of the ongoing community to simply base assumptions about the writers solely based on their “texts.”
In 1996, the concept of “hyperpersonal communication” was introduced by Joseph B. Walther in his research study on computer-mediated communication. “Newer theories and research are noted explaining normative “interpersonal” uses of the media. From this vantage point, recognizing that impersonal communication is sometimes advantageous, strategies for the intentional depersonalization of media use are inferred…Additionally, recognizing that media sometimes facilitate communication that surpasses normal interpersonal levels, a new perspective on “hyperpersonal” communication is introduced” (Walther 1996). Walther defines the term as being able to highlight certain personal characteristics while downplaying others. In the case of TFLN, members of the community subject themselves to judgment solely based on their drunken antics. “415 - Just threw up in Nordstrom while shopping for moms b-day with Dad. He distracted workers for me. No more tequila.” Because this poster is simply known by this post, readers are allowed to automatically assume the lifestyle in which he or she may live. Readers do not know whether this person is bound for success, if this person is moral, or which sex this person even is; what readers do know is that this submission reasserts the hegemonic norms of the lifestyle that comprises this site. On the other end of the spectrum, this idea of hyper personalization especially pertains to the online realm of profiles and blogs, which aim to create the illusion of total exposure of the individual.
In Karen Tracy’s book Everyday Talk: Building and Reflecting Identities, identity is defined by character, personality, fixed characteristics like age and sex, as well as situational attributions. Character is meant to include whether a person is “honest, considerate, or sleazy” while personality refers to someone being “overbearing, quiet, or thoughtful.” Through hyper personalities, online surfers are given the flexibility and privilege of choosing what traits to advertise, what to keep hidden, and what to exaggerate or fabricate. Freddy Mini is the CEO of a French web start-up company called Netvibes. On the subject of hyper personalization, Mini said, “People want to consume information the way they want, when they want, and for the deliverer to be smart enough to know what they want before they even want it” (Martinez 2009). It is no secret that people market themselves online, seemingly selling themselves for their ideas and ultimately, for acceptance.
Douglas Ehninger said that rhetoric is "…that discipline which studies all of the ways in which men may influence each other's thinking and behavior through the strategic use of symbols." Texts From Last Night definitely influences thinking and behavior, by decreasing shock factor of indeed shocking activities as well as letting the college population see such activities as normal. Philosopher Gerard A. Hauser identified five elements crucial in the school of rhetoric: Context, goal, medium, voice, and audience.
The context of the popular website textsfromlastnight.com is that of explicit debauchery, raunchy sexual escapades, and a brutal sense of detachment amidst ironic humor. Of explicit debauchery, “443 – please tell me how you mysteriously remembered your social security number when we were checking you into the ER again last night” and “925 – I have minimal recollection and a lot of burns on my tongue and my vagina hurts” and “614 – I wish I could sell my textbooks to my drug dealer and cut out the middle man.” Of raunchy sexual escapades, “845 – im not going to any frat parties next semester. For once I want them to think it’s actually hard to get in my vagina,” and “515 – im going to sleep with her just to prove to my roommate that she’s a slut and he’s wasting his time.” The senders elicit zero sense of personal affection or attachment, and so carelessly state actions that would alarm parents and teachers to a mass extent.
The goal aspect of the website is explained in the About section:
Texts From Last Night (TFLN) was founded in February 2009 by two friends for reasons that may or may not include: the tendency to press send more easily as the night turns to morning, friends' social habits, disgraced government officials, exes, law school, closing down bars and leaving tabs open, general debauchery and/or a common disgust for all the negativity surrounding the 'sexting' phenomenon.
We prefer texts, not conversations. We reserve the right to post portions of conversations without duplicating the entire thing. It's not because the entire thing isn't funny, but the funniest texts are those we can all relate to, so without the context of the conversation, they become really funny.
Our goal was to create a site that was revealing in nature while concealing the identity of everyone involved. This is why we only ask for an area code to accompany your text messages.
We don't want texts that are offensive to the point of being viciously personal, racist, exceedingly profane, violent or excessively graphic in nature. It's a very hard thing to judge, but we'll do our best.
Clearly identified is the cultural norm of text preference to conversations, the sense of belonging, and the concealment of users.
Medium plays a major role to the phenomenon that TFLN has become. With the simple accessibility and widely known label into which the site has evolved, students between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four combine the two most utilized forms of communication they have: texting and the Internet. Perhaps these two components created the equation of success that is TFLN.
The casual nature of submission supplements the message itself. The Dual Capacity Model of communication by Sitkin, Sutcliffe, and Barrios-Choplin identifies “…two components of a medium's ability to carry information. These two components are the data carrying capacity and the symbol carrying capacity” (Sitkin, Sutcliffe, and Barrios-Choplin 1992). The capacity of data carrying measures the amount of information an instrument may possess and transfer. For example, a text message is limited to a certain number of characters depending on the model of the phone, and even then, a text message lacks the rich media of a video conference, or even a phone call. The symbol carrying capacity of the dual capacity model entails “the medium's ability to carry information about the information or about the individuals who are communicating.” This refers to what the choice of communication is saying about the message. For example, an urgent matter typically merits a phone call, and a quick question typically comes in a text message. This is what makes Texts From Last Night so intriguing, as it breaks the societal norms of communication by opting to text in the events of life-threatening predicaments or humiliating circumstances, traceable by phone. The fact that such messages as “846 – he rubbed his balls on my face to wake me up…this friends with benefits thing is really getting out of hand” are in fine print is alarming. The mode of transfer one chooses to execute some message is crucial in understanding the message itself. For example, think of what Person A is saying by text messaging “I’m sorry” to Person B, who wrote Person A a four-page handwritten letter about how hurt A made them, how A had zero compassion for B’s cat dying, and how B really wanted a full-on apology from A. Clearly Person A has little to no regard for B, and is unaffected by B’s outcries. Furthermore, A is communicating little to no interest in the continuance of a relationship with B.
The fourth element of Hauser’s model of rhetoric is voice. As previously touched on, the style and voice of Texts From Last Night is frighteningly nonchalant. To say that the writing form is informal would be an understatement of the extreme. (Note that the “texts” inserted to this document have been autocorrected by Microsoft Word.) Capitalization and correct grammar usages are few and far between to say the least, and the contraction of “you are” seemingly does not exist. Nonetheless, TFLN employs a certain style and flow to its posts. In all actuality, the lack of simple third grade grammar adds to the message itself. Nevermind that a message about a pregnancy scare is being communicated through text, for that is the nature of content accustomed by TFLN. That the text message about a pregnancy scare has spelling errors is the fiber of its entertainment.
The voice of the “Texts” is sarcastic, detached, nonchalant, although mature. The voice knows what disgusting activity it is doing breaks the boundaries of good morals, otherwise, why send it? “732 – I tried telling you she just blew me in the bathroom but you were too busy making out with her to listen.” This tells readers that the sender of this text message is calm and rational, despite the raunchy nature of his behavior, and apparently of his friend’s.
Even so, the goal of Text From Last Night’s voice is to relate to the reader. The posts exercise a sense of homogeneity throughout, creating the illusion that any one of one’s friends wrote a particular post. Additionally, the posts work in concert with one another, allowing the reader to assume the same male and same female wrote every single “text” corresponding to their sex without sounding ambiguous or repetitive. Without crude activity, humor, and shock factor, a text will not post.
Perhaps the most crucial element in the five that define rhetoric is that of audience. Without audience, there would be no community surrounding Texts From Last Night. Without a sense of community or even such tangibility of community, there would be no culture. “Culture is a way of life of a group of people…the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.” The audience TFLN targets are in fact those very people posting and commenting on the site. The website aims to please and humor the likes of college students in the social scene of drinking, doing drugs, and have promiscuous sex despite coming from what sounds like the typical middle class family. “734 – I can’t believe I am actually paying for a night in a hotel for my parents so I can throw a party the night before Christmas Eve. I also can’t believe they think it’s their Christmas present.” This post does not segregate any one region, tax bracket, or in this case, even sex.
That each text avoid singling out of any one area or income circle is also a criteria for the audience. Suppose each text made references to specific bars, specific libraries or campus buildings…of course pupils of that student body would appreciate it even more, but the site does not discriminate against anyone inside the cultural norm it has created and manifested. The audience of TFLN adores it so much because humans enjoy being included, by nature. Forty-two-year old Angela Clark, mother of the writer of this publication, closed the website upon reading seven posts. “I don’t get it. Why would a girl say that about herself? And what guy in his right mind would put his recreational drug use into words like that, when just a simple phone call from his father to the phone company could trace him right back to ‘last night’ when he did acid?” Clark refused to read any further, asserting that such disgraceful behavior should not be published on the internet. She also asserted that her daughter, a college student, block the web site and any derivatives of such (as in Totalfratmove.com and FML.com) because they were a waste of time and an immediate deterioration of my – I mean her daughter’s – brain cells.
Despite the harmful nature of the context Texts From Last Night values, it is perhaps perpetuating the lifestyle on college campuses nationwide. As Douglas Ehninger said, “[Rhetoric is] that discipline which studies all of the ways in which men may influence each other’s thinking and behavior through the strategic use of symbols.” One may not influence without power. According to their theory that “relationships are the bases of social power,” John French and Bertram Raven outline the five sources of power. Reward power is the ability to grant or deny positive sanctions, while coercive power is the ability to threaten. Legitimate power is recognized, as in a supervisor, and expert power is some acknowledgement that one contains some information, knowledge, or skills over another. In the rhetorical analysis of Texts From Last Night, the power utilized is that of referent power, in which one exercises power through identification. Such power is common, and often critical, in politics, wartime affairs, and of course, hegemonic structure. Man is the symbol of ego, thus he (or she) likes to think that whatever good and right justification there is belongs to him (or her). When someone of identifies with an ideal of another, the two sensationalize their points of view, and supplement one another with confidence.
On TFLN, what might have been a humiliating or even traumatic event actually looks a lot like the weekend a reader might have just had, or so the reader would like to think. When these activities are given the forum and freedom to be considered entertaining and hilarious, they emit a sense of imitation by their readers, who would perhaps like to be seen as the nonchalant blacking out kid with zero memory of sleeping with someone. By identifying with the site, college students are earning the right to every sanctioned element of college life in this era. When Brother Bluto belligerently smashed the guitar of a soft-spoken, non-drinking musician on the staircase of the animal house during a toga party, people adored him, and aspired to be him once in college. Today, when a student reads “781 – I was told by the cop that my party was the most epic party they ever crashed,” he aspires to one day necessarily send the same text message.
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