Networked Interactivity

Abstract

What makes computer‐mediated groups tick and/or stick? To what degree are computer‐mediated discussants really sustained “groups”? Does the grouping quality reflect anything beyond technical structure? Are technical structure and grouping related? How do threads define groups, or vice‐versa? Does any of this change between academic and commercial networks?

The Mediated Moderation Model of Interactivity

“…Rafaeli contends that "interactivity is not a characteristic of the medium. It is a process-related construct about communication" (Rafaeli & Sudweeks, 1997). He places great emphasis on interactivity conforming to a continuum of interaction; from one-way transmission to an ongoing communication exchange, and regards interactivity as a reciprocal process between the sender and receiver (Rafaeli, 1988).…”

“…In this scheme, messages provide the only evidence of interactivity; user-centered observations are not offered to demonstrate the exchange of meaning. Rather, he asserts, "actual social actions and relations are transacted through observable behaviors, the exchange of messages" (Rafaeli & Sudweeks, 1997). Problematically, however, Rafaeli never offers a concrete example of what he considers an interactive message exchange to be.…”

“…Instead, an increase in message traffic may produce just the opposite. Rafaeli and Sudweeks' (1997) own unsupported hypothesis from a study of online community shows the more that messages are exchanged, the less they are semantically related. Similarly, Tremayne and Dunwoody (2001) find that rather than promoting elaboration (the exchange of meaning), clicking on hyperlinks and inputting data on a webpage may hinder learning and promote temporal disorientation.…”

“…In this sense, Rafaeli's suggestion of bidirectional, reactive, and interactive message exchange categories represents a typology for measuring and classifying the interactivity in communication more than it does a theoretical proposition (Newhagen, 2004). Rafaeli and Sudweeks (1997) hypothesize that organizational features of the online community, such as whether censorship exists and membership is free, will affect the degree of interaction-and this statement receives empirical support. But whether the degree of interaction then influences other outcome measures, such as cognitive engagement, attitudes toward the online community, or sociability, is not examined.…”

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

“…According to several authors the exchange of meaning between interaction partners plays a central role when examining interactivity (explicitly termed 'exchange' in Haeckel, 1998: 63;Rafaeli, 1988: 116;Rafaeli and Sudweeks, 1997;Williams, Rice, and Rogers, 1988: 115, Pavlik, 1998: 137, Straubhaar and La Rose 1996'dialogue' in Bezjian-Avery, Calder, and Iacobucci, 1998: 23). Control and direction of communication may offer information on the disposition of power between sender and receiver.…”