Ch. 8 What is Interactivity?

Reading Summary

To start, Smith defines interactivity by distinguishing it from passive media consumption, claiming that it is the ways media makes us do things and the activities they elicit.For example, these meta-messages broadcast by types of media encourage viewers to view it in a certain environment, consume the story a certain way, or discuss the meaning in a certain breath in our circles. Furthermore, there is a level beyond television and film that requires more mental and physical participation by the viewer, such as video games and trivia shows. Video games, on one hand, embodies interactivity in giving control and choice to what the viewer sees on screen, where trivia shows such as Jeopardy mentally engage viewers even though they’re not physically engaging or participating.

Secondly, Smith discusses strongly and weakly designed mediaspaces. The former gives consumers similar experiences while still maintaining personalization while the latter is a space that doesn’t bring anything compelling in itself. In relation to interactivity, the strongly designed spaces promote imagination, power, and DIY, creating real lures to consumers. They are object-orientated, which give a sense of real activity and unpredictability, but do contain limits as to what the user can do with those abilities. Weakly designed spaces, on the other hand, place emphasis on the participants making the space compelling and less on the structure elements that can appeal to all. These elements include timing, access and people-oriented engagement, which can make the weakly designed space and entertaining or dull form of interactivity.

Outside Example

During quarantine, the one thing that has kept me somewhat sane has been Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This game, as well as the Animal Crossing series, encompasses what a free-realm, mentally engaging, strongly designed interactive video game should be. Users are placed on a desert island and tasked with building the island into a 5-star island that can bring the artist KK Slider to perform a concert. The guidance and freedom begin very strict and structure, but ease as the early days of the game go by and are essentially eliminated after the first week. While central missions still exist, there is no strict timeline to complete these missions while still giving users control over their island activities.

Reading Connection

As stated, ACNH is an example of a strongly designed mediaspace. The game freely allows the player to be unique, imaginative, and stress-free in the design of their island and home. There are a wide range of activities for users to do, such as fishing, designing, constructing, catching bugs, and visiting other islands, that are constantly available without any constraints on mission progress, time, or length of play. Limits do exist, such as movement on your island across rivers and inclines, real-world time, or needing a “recipe” to construct something, but play is completely independent and relies on no outside factors beyond the user’s imagination. This free-lance nature and lack of a rigid structure of gameplay keeps users engaged for hours at a time with no push factors that make users stop playing if they can’t beat a certain “level”. Interactivity is significantly drawn from the structural genius of this game, allowing users to create their perfect island that is entirely unique.