Para-Interactivity and the Appeal of Television in the Digital Age

Book excerpt: Para-Interactivity and the Appeal of Television in the Digital Age focuses on broadcast television's attempts to transition from a mass medium to one which addresses viewers as potentially active participants in simulated interactive communication. It explores both the transformations and the continued popularity of television in an age of social media and competition from interactive digital media. It presents the concept of “para-interactivity,” which contains features or elements that echo interactive communication processes considered characteristic of digital media and participatory culture translated into television's language. This novel idea helps to understand contemporary television and identify current and traditional strategies it employs in order to survive in a changing media environment.