Defining interactivity can be very challenging. It seems like a simple definition with easy examples, but that’s not always the case. Doug Eyman makes a connection between interactivity and digital media. He describes interactivity as the “quality of digital media.” He argues that new media and digital texts should be considered as new forms. A lot of old forms are impossible to change the physical state. I agree with Eyman because new media and old media should not be considered the same thing. They both have very different ways that we interact with them. When we break up interactivity, we can understand the terms interactive and activity. A lot of new media is interactive. Visiting sites that change because of something you can control make the site interactive.
Examples of Interactivity
What is something that you can completely change the form of? We typically think of something like clay when you can create an object out of material. When you put clay into a kiln, it completely changes the original form of the clay. Another example could be making a paper snowflake. When you cut the paper to make different shapes, the form of the paper changes. If the form of the object changes, it is considered interactive. New media creates a lot of flexibility for interactivity. Creating a social profile while being very involved in a social media platform changes the way the platform is. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. An example of this is the raging platform: Tiktok. The more you interact with tiktok, the more personalized videos it will give you.
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