Why Do 'Rhetorical' Speech Acts Emerge in Digital Era Communication?

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to analyze the factors driving the emergence of rhetorical speech acts in digital communication culture, particularly in food vlog content on YouTube. Rhetorical speech acts are proposed as a new category within illocutionary speech act theory, focusing on the use of rhetorical questions to influence, direct thinking, and emphasize points without expecting direct answers.  Methods: The method employed is qualitative with a netnographic approach, where data were collected from three prominent Indonesian food vloggers: Tanboy Kun, Nex Carlos, and Mgdalenaf.  Results: The study results show that  rhetorical speech acts emerge as a way for vloggers to enhance audience engagement and highlight key points. Unlike conventional speech acts such as assertives, directives, and expressives, rhetorical speech acts focus more on creating cognitive and curious effects without requiring an explicit response.  Conclusion: The study recommends that rhetorical speech acts have become an essential component of dynamic and flexible digital communication, enriching speech act theory with new dimensions relevant to modern communication. This study also recommends further research on the application of rhetorical speech acts across various digital platforms and encourages content creators to optimize these strategies to enhance engagement and message effectiveness in digital interactions.