Tracing ecologies of writing

Abstract

This paper applies ecological concepts to content production in a literal rather than metaphorical fashion. Doing so suggests a new approach for researching writing within organizational environments — an approach focused on practices in relation to textual artifacts. This paper demonstrates this new approach, using Ecofoot, the web site of the Michigan State Office of Campus Sustainability, as an object of analysis. The analysis is not a traditional “rhetorical” or digital — visual analysis of the web site. Rather it proceeds from an empirical examination of the objects, actors, and technologies at play — in visible and invisible ways — in the ongoing production of a participatory content environment.