In Marshall Scott Poole's encyclopedia article, interdependence is a constituent feature of a system in itself. Poole writes that a system is "a set of interdependent components that form an internally organized whole that operates as one in relation to its environment and to other systems" (50). Later in the same article, Poole notes that interdependence deals with the way in which components within the system relate to one another. These relations can be one-way or mutual. The examples that Poole uses as interdependences include "workflow, communication, authority, and affect. Interdependences among components are the basis for the functional and causal effects they have on one another" (51).
If interdependence is a relationship between components, I think that is worth considering how those interactions are explained and made more complex through rhetorical vocabularies and enactments. For example, while authority is one form of an interdependent relationship, I want to look at how Reddit enforces a particular sense of authority between the relatively "flat" components of individual Redditors. This authority comes from inside the system of adherence to appropriate "Reddit culture" through the community's policing of organizational and communication norms. Rather than the relationship from boss to employee, authority on Reddit is enacted through group pressure, ridicule, and adherence to an (often) unwritten set of rules. Therefore, participation in this social network involves appeals to a particular identity as a Redditor, rather than a formal authority or organizational censorship.

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