Defining Interactivity: Eyman vs. Warnick
According to Doug Eyman, interactivity refers to a user’s ability to directly manipulate and shape their experience of media, as well as communicate with others through digital tools. Warnick extends this idea by defining interactivity as a reciprocal exchange of messages that occurs between users in mediated spaces (Eyman 33). In this framework, interactivity becomes the primary way people engage, respond, and participate in digital environments using smartphones, computers, and other networked devices.
Texts are also “dialogic” in that writers naturally incorporate elements of their audience’s attitudes and expectations to better connect with them (132). While this reflects Burke’s idea of identification, it should not be treated as the central feature of interactivity.
Warnick’s Focus on User-to-User Interaction
Warnick’s case studies center on user-to-user communication how individuals interact online by sharing text, images, videos, and using websites to coordinate face-to-face meetings. Her examples draw from platforms used during the 2004 presidential election.
However, Warnick downplays system-to-user interactivity, reducing it to functions such as clicking links or adjusting font size. She argues that only communication-based interactions qualify as meaningful interactivity (75). This viewpoint creates a major limitation in digital rhetoric because it treats the interactive features of digital systems as non-rhetorical.
Limitations in Warnick’s Approach
By focusing exclusively on user-to-user communication, Warnick overlooks several critical aspects of interactivity in digital media:
1. The Rhetorical Power of Interfaces
She neglects how interface design, navigation structures, and system defaults shape user decision-making and access to information. Interface elements are not neutral. They guide users, influence choices, and contribute to persuasion.
2. Algorithms and Personalization
Her study does not account for the role of algorithms, recommendation systems, and personalized content. Which determines how information circulates online and impact rhetorical visibility.
3. Platform Rules and Power Dynamics
Warnick treats platforms as stable, neutral spaces. She overlooks how moderation policies and access barriers shape participation and determine whose voices are heard or silenced.
4. Multimodal and Procedural Persuasion
Her approach ignores interactive visuals, dynamic media, and rule-based systems. These features significantly contribute to how digital texts persuade. These multimodal elements function rhetorically, even if they do not involve direct user-to-user communication.
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