Ch. 8: Interactivity

Reading Summary:

In Chapter 8 of “What Media Classes Really Want To Discuss,” Smith addresses the concept of interactivity. Smith defines the concept as the two way flow or interaction between the person (user) and the media/software they are using. Smith argues that almost all forms of media have interactivity, but says the amount or degree of how much is what changes. Smith gives an example of TV and video games to show that TV isn’t very interactive while video games are extremely interactive.

Outside Example

My outside example would be first person shooter games. Some of these games include Call Of Duty, Fortnite, and Halo. In these games, the user looks through the eyes of a soldier as they fight on the battlefield.

Reading Connection:

I feel like these types of games have to do with interactivity a lot. These games are super interactive with the user having the point of view as a soldier in the battlefield. These types of games feel very real to the point where it is scary and users do feel the same nerves that would factor into it being real life. However, they are a little detached because of the fact they know, at the end of the day, it is a video game. I feel like the influx of these types of games resemble the general trend towards increasing interactivity in media.