The meaning of meaningfulness according to users of interactive journalistic stories

Journalism is looking for new ways to reach young audiences and to attract and hold their attention (Digital News Report Netherlands, 2024; Van der Nat, 2022). The journalism field is experimenting with new ways of reporting. One of these new ways is the use of interactive narratives. In an interactive narrative, the reader becomes an interactor who can influence salient aspects of the narrative, for instance the point of view or the storyline (Roth & Koenitz, 2016). Adding interactivity to a journalistic narrative can increase user engagement (García-Avilés et al., 2022; Vázquez-Herrero & López-García, 2019). To add interactivity to journalistic narratives in a meaningful way, an important first question is about what this meaningfulness entails exactly. The term is mentioned frequently in the literature as an important aspect of interactive narratives (e.g., Crawford, 2013; Daneels et al., 2021; Murray, 2017; Roth & Koenitz, 2016) but what it is exactly remains underspecified. Mekler and Hornbæk (2019) did develop a framework concerning meaningfulness in Human-Computer Interaction in general but question is whether and to what extent this framework is applicable to journalistic interactive narratives specifically. The aim of this study is to gain clarity on how users interpret the term meaningfulness in the context of journalistic interactive narratives. To this end, the following RQ was formulated: What does the term meaningful in interactive journalistic narratives mean according to the users of these interactive narratives? 15 users (21-64 years old, average age 33) with affinity with media, journalism, technology and/or storytelling participated in the study. They were first observed while they experienced an interactive narrative which they chose from a shortlist of 4 journalistic interactive narratives (Dustin, Het Nader Gehoor, I Am Mosul, The Uber Game). This shortlist was used to make sure that different types of interactivity and topics were covered in the study. Then, by means of a semi-structured interview, the concept of meaningfulness was discussed with the interviewees in relation to the experienced interactive narrative. The interview data were analyzed using open, axial and selective coding (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) with Mekler and Hornbaek’s (2019) framework as a starting point. The analysis of the interviews revealed 6 factors which specified the concept of meaningfulness: 1) effect on the user, 2) alignment between the interactive narrative and the user’s prior knowledge and emotions, 3) topic and content of the narrative, 4) user agency in the interactive narrative, 5) purpose of the interactive narrative, and 6) system usability. Experiencing an interactive journalistic story was considered meaningful if this experience has an effect on the user. This can be a cognitive and/or affective effect and/or an effect on user behavior. Furthermore, an interactive journalistic narrative was seen as meaningful when the user can relate to the topic, content and emotions reflected in the interactive narrative (cf. Mekler & Hornbæk , 2019; Riedl & Young, 2005). A clear purpose of the interactive narrative also adds to the interactive narrative’s meaningfulness (cf. Mekler & Hornbæk, 2019). Furthermore, the interactive narrative is regarded as meaningful if users feel that they have the autonomy to make choices in the interactive narrative and that their choices have an impact on how the narrative develops (cf. Roth & Koenitz, 2016). Lastly, the technology must be functioning properly (cf. Klimmt & Hartmann, 2012; Roth & Koenitz, 2016) and in an understandable way (cf. Mekler & Hornbæk , 2019). The combination of these factors led to a new framework specifying meaningfulness in interactive journalistic narratives. Possible follow-up research could focus on testing the applicability of the framework to interactive narratives without a journalistic component.

References

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Interactive narratives
Dustin: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dustin/id1491331550
I Am Mosul: https://iamosul.nl/i-am-mosul
Nader Gehoor: https://www.trouw.nl/redactie/nadergehoor/
The Uber Game: https://ig.ft.com/uber-game/