Interactivity allows people to connect and interact with one another. New media helps expand the number of people who can interact thanks to accessibility. Today, new media refers to computers and phones that allow access to the internet and in turn, access to news events, especially on social media. Rhetoric over time has been used to explain and develop its understanding into new ideas and concepts. As such, these ideas and concepts can simply be viewed on these social media platforms. Communication has developed significantly thanks to the advancement of technology. J. D. Applen’s “Writing for the Web: Composing, Coding, and Constructing Web Sites” covers communication media. The chapter entitled “Old media, new media, and Knowledge” mentions how media has allowed people to shape and receive both knowledge and information for hundreds of years.

This includes both print and electronic forms of media, newspapers, and, with the introduction of television, news channels. In addition, spoken words, written words from the past and present, and electronic words used via technology can convey messages to audiences. It can also affect the individual’s ability to understand the idea they strive to convey to their audience. And it is thanks to technological advancements that there is much more capability in regards to interactivity online. In addition, interactivity online can include user-to-user base and user-to-text base. This means interactivity can be between two people, for example, XBox and PlayStation consoles have multiplayer games like Call of Duty. This game has a feature in which players with a headset or microphone can verbally interact with other players in order to work together. Those without a headset and/or microphone can still hear those with it, and they can use “emotes” or in game call outs to interact with their team. Interactivity online can also involve a person and text, for example, it may involve an individual clicking on a hyperlink in an article.

New Media Increased Interactivity

Thanks to today’s new media, interactivity among larger groups is possible, and this interactivity does not need to be face-to-face. New media can be considered things like computers and phones in which the internet is easy accessible. With access to the internet comes access to news media either on news aps and articles or through social media posts. There are a vast amount of platforms online that people use that are designed to allow for interaction. For example, multiple social media sites allow for people to interact with one another through posts, likes, and comments. Twitter and Instagram are two of the largest and most popular forms of social media. These sites allow for massive interactivity between people across the globe. It also has no specific demographic so a large variety of people are online. These platforms allow people to make posts online whether it be texts, videos, or pictures. Generally, posts have some sort of message or purpose behind them whether direct or indirect. This may include spreading awareness about a serious topic like “breast cancer in men” or “how to reduce your carbon footprint.” Other posts may be seflies which are used as a way to garner positive responses in an attempt to feel better about one’s self or to feel more confident.

In addition, people on these sites can also comment and like these posts. This allows people all across the globe to interact with one another whether positively or negatively. To avoid any negative interactions, there are options to “block” individuals who spread hate or who may “troll” people online in order to get a rise out of them. Overall, social media platforms allow for inclusive interaction among everyday strangers. And these sites continue to allow for everyday interactions online for anyone with an internet connection. Thanks to the advancement of technology, this massive form of interactivity is possible. Its flexibility also allows for more people to be involved with their community and allow for quick access to news sources outside of their homes on the television.

“Dangers” of Accessible Interactivity

According to Doug Eyman who wrote “Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric,” expresses that interactivity is like a double-edged sword as it can be positive and negative in digital space. The negative aspect to this interactivity online includes the spread of misinformation as people are allowed to post whatever they want as long as they adhere to community guildlines. These guidelines generally prevent certain posts from being shared such as sexual or gore filled content. However it does not prevent misinformation from being spread. Not everyone understands this and many of the older generations are more susceptible to this misinformation and may unknowningly spread or “share” the information without source checking.

Many of these posts have a reasoning behind them, this can include spreading awareness, informing the public, or receiving attention. Either way, regardless of the purpose behind a post, it is important to know that posts often have a reason behind them. With this in mind, it is important to understand messages in media in order to avoid being susceptible to “fake news.” Internet literacy or digital literacy is someone’s capability to find, analyze, and share information found using typing and digital based platforms. People with this knowledge are able to differ what may be considered fake news and avoid sharing it with others. In addition, news literacy encourages people to be suspicious of what they read and see online and to always fact check sources. This allows for people to avoid being susceptible to misinformation and prevent the spread of it to others with no understanding of news literacy.

Another more direct danger for interactivity includes people posting on social media. Often, people will post things like pictures of them in public or locations close to where they live.This is a danger as, unless their account is private, anyone and everyone can view their post. There have been articles and news events of people being stalked because they would post live where they were or what they were doing. For example, in California, police arrested a man who broke into a 13-year-olds room in the middle of the night. He used pictures she posted on her instagram to find out where she lived. So even though social media may connect people and allow interactions from across the world, it is important for people to understand the consequences of having too much interactivity online. With that in mind it is also important to have a sense of privacy online to avoid strangers from finding you. Just like how you should not share private information like passwords online, you also should avoid posting home addresses or even current locations. Even if one has a private account they should still be mindful of what they post online due to the potential risk of someone stalking them to do harm.