AFour-PartModelofCyber-InteractivitySomeCyber-Places.doc

A Four-Part Model of Cyber-Interactivity: Some Cyber-Places are More Interactive Than Others by Sally J. McMillan, Ph.D. Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Tennessee Direct correspondence to the author at: P.O. Box 51965Knoxville, TN 37950 Phone: 865-539-4134 e-mail: sjmcmill@ Keywords: interactivity, new media, communication models Author Biography Sally J. McMillan is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on the individual, organizational and social impacts of interactive communication technologies and has been published in journals such as Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and New Media and Society. The author thanks Jennifer Browning, Susanna Lamminpaa, and Khai Nguyen for their research assistance. Address: The University of Tennessee, College of Communication, 476 Communication Building, Knoxville, TN 37996. [e-mail: sjmcmill@]. A Four-Part Model of Cyber-Interactivity: Some Cyber-Places are More Interactive Than Others ABSTRACT Existing communication models and definitions of interactivity provide both background and structure for a new model of cyber-interactivity that is introduced and explored in this article. Two primary dimensions, direction of communication and level of receiver control over the communication process, provide the primary framework for this new model of computer-mediated cyber-interactivity. A study designed to explore the applicability of this model analyzed 108 health-related Web sites using both perception-based and feature-based measures of these two dimensions. No significant correlation was found between the perception-based and feature-based models. The perception-based model was a better predictor of attitude toward the Web site and perceived relevance of the subject of the site than was the feature-based model. However, the feature-based model may hold greater promise as a tool for site developers