How Users Take Advantage of Different Forms of Interactivity on Online News Sites: Clicking, EMailing, and Commenting

This study examines the uptake of multiple interactive features on news sites. It looks at the thematic composition of the most clicked, most e-mailed, and most commented stories during periods of heightened and routine political activity. Results show that (a) during the former period, the most commented stories were more likely to be focused on political, economic, and international topics (or ‘‘public affairs’’ news) than the most clicked and most e-mailed articles. (b) The 3 types of interactivity exhibited a greater presence of public affairs content during the period of heightened political activity than during its routine counterpart. (c) As the period of heightened political activity unfolded, consumers’ propensity to click on, e-mail, and comment about public affairs stories increased.