Interactivity

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The article, "How Do Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants Respond Differently to Interactivity Online? A Model for Predicting Consumer Attitudes and Intentions to Use Digital Information Product"  provides a fascinating look at internet interactivity, its rise and impact on advertising, and how digital natives and digital immigrants interact differently with technology. 

Interactivity is becoming increasing more prevalent. People like when technology is interactive, thus it generally leads to more positive responses. Advertisers try utilize this by making their ads more interactive in hopes of increasing the likelihood of positive responses (i.e. buy their product). This article cites various studies that shed light on the process by which interactivity impacts attitudes and adoption intentions and the differences in the influence of interactivity across digital native and digital immigrant. 

This article contends that  interactivity generally is conceptualized to include three distinct dimensions: active control, two-way communication, and synchronicity (or responsiveness). This article elaborates extensively on each dimension and its role and importance in interactivity. Also, this article states that interactivity can be measured simply by whether the user views it as so or not. However, interactivity in web design can also be measured using the dimensions listed above by analyzing the quality and degree at which a web site executes each. Does it provide customers greater control over the information search process? Does it give the ability to communicate with a system and have it respond back? Does it provide quick responses? If the answer is yes to all of these questions then a website is designed well and has an excellent amount of interactivity. 

This theory for testing interactivity does not work the same for all people. Digital natives have different level responses to interactive stimuli. In particular, perceptions of active control and two-way communication have a positive impact on digital natives, but less so with older digital immigrants.

Internet interactivity is a complex and robust topic with several varying understandings and theories. However, I think this article provides an interesting and comprehensive look at interactivity and it nature. 

Networks & Information

1) I think all the network laws, in different yet equally valuable ways, offer good advice for quantifying the value of a network. Which one do I agree with the most? Well, I would have to say I agree with all of them as they apply to different types of networks. When trying to decipher the value of a television network, I would agree the most with Sarnoff’s law. Considering his law states "the value of a broadcast network is directly proportional to the number of viewers" and television makes money off advertising and advertisers pay more money for more viewers. Therefore, it makes sense that the value of a television network is proportional to the size of its viewership. When it comes to digital networks and social media I agree equally with Reed’s and Metcalf’s law because both of their laws account for interconnectivity between users when calculating the value of a network.

2) I think the internet has proven itself to be the most dynamic and capable innovation of our time and five years from now that statement ring all the truer. Five years from now I think people will continue to get their information from the internet, and what will change is that the internet will make all other information sources (Television, Radio, Magazines, etc.) obsolete. Or not so much “obsolete” but the internet will replace the traditional way they are distributed (broadcasting, printed). A lot of information sources like the ones mentioned are online currently in some regards. For example, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Spotify. Also, nearly all magazines have websites where they share similar, if not exactly the same, content as they do in their printed magazines. Ten years ago none of the companies mentioned above were around and five years ago half of them weren’t around. Five years from now I think all news, TV, movies, music, and the like will be stored and streamed online and there will no longer be any of the traditional broadcasting. When it comes to technology and the distribution of information things are constantly evolving. Five years from now we can only speculate how things will change, what we do know for sure is that they defiantly won’t stay the same.