Down the Rabbit-Hole: Exploring Health Messages on the World Wide Web

<jats:p> Over a quarter century ago, James W. Carey and John J. Quirk questioned the prevailing belief that technology would revolutionize communication. Now that we have begun traveling on the information superhighway, we are bombarded more often than ever by what Carey and Quirk called “the rhetoric of the electronic sublime.” Yet an exploration of some fifty award-winning health messages on the World Wide Web suggests that our well-worn maps—that is, the traditional concepts of source, content, purpose, audience, and presentation—can give us a sense of direction as we begin our fall down the rabbit-hole. </jats:p>