Interactive media

Interactive media is media that the user takes part in by interacting with it. The user does something — taps, clicks, swipes, types or moves a controller — and the media responds. It is one of the new media sectors, because it depends on computers to respond to what the user does.

Interactive media usually combines several types of content: audio, video, graphics, animation and text. You find it in apps, websites, games and social media. For example, a museum touchscreen may let you tap a dinosaur to hear its roar and see a fact file; a revision app may ask you a question and show whether your answer is right; a racing game lets you steer a car around a track. In each case the media changes because of what the user does.

Not all media is interactive. A recorded message that tells you the school is closed when you ring in is passive: it plays audio but does not respond to the caller. A printed poster is also passive. Interactive media requires user action, so a screen that only plays content without responding is not interactive media.

To describe an interactive media product fully, say what it is or does and how the user controls it. 'It is a drum kit app where you tap the pads to play different sounds' explains what the product is and what the user does; 'it is a drum kit app with realistic sounds' does not.