Interactivity: A review of the concept and a framework for analysis

Oliver Quiring; Wolfgang Schweiger

doi:10.1515/COMMUN.2008.009

Article

Interactivity: A review of the concept and a framework for analysis

Oliver Quiring and Wolfgang Schweiger

Published/Copyright: May 28, 2008

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From the journal Volume 33 Issue 2

Abstract

The terms ‘interactivity’ and ‘interactive media’ became significant buzzwords during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the multi-media euphoria fascinated politicians, economists, and researchers alike. However, right from the beginning of the scientific debate, the inconsistent usage of the term ‘interactivity’ massively complicated the comparability of numerous empirical studies. This is where this article joins the discussion. First, the article sheds light on the terminological origins of ‘interactivity’ and distinguishes the term from cognate expressions. Further, it restructures and extends existing findings on the basis of a new analysis framework which considers three levels of interactive communication (action level, level of subjective situation evaluation, and level of meaning exchange). Finally, it delivers a systematic overview of specific criteria of interactive communication.

Keywords:: interactivity; framework; computer-mediated-communication; human-machine interaction; Internet; media use

Published Online: 2008-05-28

Published in Print: 2008-June

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/COMMUN.2008.009

Keywords for this article

interactivity; framework; computer-mediated-communication; human-machine interaction; Internet; media use