| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
DOI: 10.1177/0270467605279080 © 2005 SAGE Publications Interactivity Versus Interaction: What Really Matters for State Legislature Web Sites?Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology The Internet, not unlike previous communication technologies, has been predicted to dramatically change the nature of democracy. The interactive nature of Web sites, in particular, is seen as the basis for a new cyberdemocracy. Although the definition of interactivity is less than precise, an evaluation of state legislature Web sites finds them lacking many features that could be considered interactive. Furthermore, the degree of a site’s interactivity was not strongly correlated to a site’s use. Web sites can also foster interaction, both on- and off-site, through interactive and noninteractive features. When sites were examined for their potential to foster interaction, there was a strong relationship with site use. The current focus on interactivity may obscure the potential to promote interaction and lead to an overemphasis on interactive features that are sometimes nothing more than high-tech gimmicks.
Key Words: interactivity • Internet • state legislatures • interaction
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
 |
|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
