Interactivity and Electronic Journalism

Abstract

This article examines interactivity as a central feature of electronic journalism and new media, highlighting the transformation brought about by the Internet in the relationship between source, message, and audience. The author argues that online journalism is no longer a mere digital extension of print newspapers, but an evolving communicative environment based on hypertext, multimedia, links, comments, blogs, forums, and social media platforms. The article discusses how these tools enable users to participate in producing and circulating meaning rather than simply receiving journalistic content. It also approaches interactivity through the sociology of use, emphasizing that technology does not operate independently of social and cultural contexts, and that digital practices are shaped by users’ lifestyles, identities, and communicative experiences. The article concludes that understanding electronic journalism requires a multidimensional analysis linking users, media content, interactive systems, and journalistic institutions, thereby revealing the role of interactivity in reshaping media practice and the Arab communicative sphere.