Circulation is initially understood as one big cyclical and circular movement. So when it comes to rhetoric and meaning making, circulation revolves around many themes: movie sequels and remakes, fashion trends and beauty comebacks, reimagining music by using specific lyrics or beats from famed oldies—reviving it for a new audience. This concept inherently involves a rhetorical ecology when looking at the history and footprint of nonhuman constructs created by humans.
The concept of rhetorical circulation explores the nature and evolution of artifacts and their digital impact. The rhetoricity of objects transform and generate meaning as they move across time and space. Circulation is not merely about movement; it is about transformation and that emergence (Gries). Take digital activism: solidarity posting or reposting and of course, the classic twitter hashtag. While useful in aggregating attention, and ruffling feathers on your personal platform, ethical questions can arise. Social media activism faces challenges and criticism in sustaining momentum and fostering concrete action. Caroline Dadas from Montclair State University observes that “although hashtags can momentarily capture public interest, their impact often depends on how they are taken up and sustained by different actors.”
During the 2025 Grammys, Chappell Roan gave a memorable acceptance speech where she called out the industry for the lack of livable wages and healthcare available for young artists. Soon after she received backlash from a Hollywood reporter hissing that she was biting the hand that feeds her, and that she should “put her money where her mouth is” instead of grouching while receiving an award from the very institution she criticizes. Roan then responded by donating $25,000 to Backline, a mental health organization for musicians, Noah Kahan, another famous music artist, then matched her donation. They followed up by taking to Instagram tagging and challenging said reporter to join them in “putting their money where their mouth is.”
For years, certain movements and hashtags (#metoo, #freekodak, #freepalestine) have faced criticism as celebrities and the general public exploit serious problems for catchy titles and clickbait. One’s good intentions do not always amount to justice. When anything becomes a mass movement or openly broadcasts itself on a stage, there will inevitably be ethical concerns. Chappell was criticized for using her platform as another moment to advocate and crybaby about a problem she herself was not facing anymore. She was then challenged to act on it instead of complaining, so she did.
Similarly, the global #BringBackOurGirls movement in 2014 following the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping was socially charged for failing its mission as it became more about gauche monetization without any mobilization for 276 missing young girls. For the purposes of theoretical rhetorical circulation, this publicized moment achieved great velocity with hopes that the Nigerian government officials would listen and respond with action. Even the Pope went Twitter viral with 18k retweets for a well-intended call to prayer. However, these circulated hashtags created backlash within society. Some criticized the movement for its extremely trite and underwhelming downplay, others disapproved the use of the word girl vs daughter or children. Later the cynicism grew stronger amongst the public and the families of those 100 girls who never came home and worse, for those who came home with unexpected babies.
In 1964, Bob Dylan wrote “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol,” which poked fun at misplaced liberalism and activism. He actively directed his audience not to cry for the duration of the song as he sings the woes of an old maid who is murdered. At the end, he reveals the real injustice and proceeds to tell his the audience to mourn for the maid whose murderer only received six months of jail due to his stature in society. Dylan “scorns a resorted intellectual and performative response, arguing that predictable liberal empathy is hollow if it fails to inspire real engagement. Through this rhetorical strategy, he forced his own audience to acknowledge their complicity” (Taylor). The audience is to put a rag to their face only after fully absorbing the depth of a situation—that the real bigotry is indeed the system should one decide to protest.
Circulation is as unpredictable as a game of telephone. One artifact, one construct, can be passed around ten ways to Sunday, and continue to evolve in its meaning—thus affecting its maker. The rhetorical impact could be just as strong but the purpose and how it affects an audience changes. Circulation is never static or predictable, it is always contingent upon new contexts and audiences (Gries). #hashtagactivism even contradicts the original intent of the movement creating a counterculture to the counterculture. Hashtags have often been appropriated by opposing groups, demonstrating the uncontrollable nature of digital circulation (Dadas). An explicit example of this is the viral Bushdid911.com, which was then followed by Bushdidnotdo911.com back in 2015, both taken down later. At some point it becomes more about propaganda, social interaction, and laughable dinner conversation than it does a call to action.
Circulation is more inevitable than problematic. Everything is cultural and systemic, as well as the texts and trends that age timelessly (and the ones that don’t). But digital activism begs the question: where is the line? Should we stop? If not, where do we draw the boundary between general educational awareness and becoming a social climbing pick me? If this is a question of ethics, should we sensor hashtags and other posts as Mark Zuckerberg did with Facebook during Covid? Or does this impede free speech and the very constitutional rights of Americans?
Works Cited
Dadas, Caroline. “Hashtag Activism: The Promise and Risk of ‘Attention.’” Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities, edited by Jim Ridolfo and William Hart-Davidson, University of Chicago Press, 2015, pp. 17–33.
Gries, Laurie E. “Circulation as an Emergent Threshold Concept.” Introduction to Rhetoric and Circulation Studies, University Press of Colorado, 2018.
Taylor, Rachel. The Rhetorical Impact of Dylan’s Lyrical “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” 29 Mar. 2025, Nova Southeastern University. Unpublished manuscript.
Rachel Taylor
Alpha Nu Iota Chapter
Nova Southeastern University
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