Understanding Nonuse of Interactivity in Online Newspapers: Insights From Structuration Theory

While some online newspapers have embellished their online presence with a variety of interactive features, most online newspapers still appear to take on the role of cautious traditionalists, adopting a mostly conservative stance toward the new medium. Correspondingly, most audience members appear to act in a similar way. This article shows how concepts related to structuration theory can be utilized to further our theoretical understanding of the use (and nonuse) of interactive features in the online newspaper context. It employs concepts from the structuration theory to provide another interpretation of the existing empirical research. The paper concludes by suggesting that “nonuse” in this regard can be understood as part of reproducing what might be called a “structure of audiencehood” rather than a “structure of prosumerism.”