Interactivity and The Long Tail

The journals of Kiousis and McMillan were very similar in their study and definitions of interactivity, however came out with some differing conclusions. Throughout McMillans research and discussion he made very good points and compiled very good research through his project. However in the end, it seemed that his definition was inconclusive. His subjects’ state: “Nobody knows, because the field of interactive communication is in its infancy, what the possibilities are… It changes every day.” Many also feel that interactivity is not a single dimension and that instead of defining it, it should merely “include things”.

Kiousis on the other hand does come up with a definition for interactivity at the end of his research. He concludes that:

“Interactivity can be defined as the degree to which a communication
technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can
communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), both
synchronously and asynchronously, and participate in reciprocal message
exchanges (third-order dependency). With regard to human users, it
additionally refers to their ability to perceive the experience as a simulation of
interpersonal communication and increase their awareness of telepresence.”

With both authors coming up with such different answers, it makes the validity of both of them questionable. In my personal opinion, I agree with Steuer and Durlak in Kiosusis’s article that interactivity is all about social presence. I disagree however that new media has to be involved in interactivity. To me it is a broad term that encompasses not only new technology, but basic human behaviors as well. Being interactive with each other is something we have done since the beginning of time. Only now, with the rise of the internet has this term changed to be something more technological in nature.

The commercial world of the Long Tail allows users to freely be interactive with the media that they are using, whether it be books, CD’s or movies. Whereas free and underground sites have their limitation as to the quality and selections they offer, commercial and paid sites can offer limitless amounts of media for a minimal cost. An example used in the Long Tail blog talks about the ability for consumers to have music available to them. Whereas underground networks might provide streaming music of a specific genre, The Long Tail can provide limitless amounts of music, or videos for consumers to buy for a small price, and they can therefore create their own personal libraries. This increases the amount of interactivity and customization that the consumer can have. The Long Tail enchases the capability of interactivity and choice, where the underground limits this ability.