What role does interactivity play in today's media and art?

In “The Fantasy Beyond Control” by Lynn Hershman, the perspective that individuals replace longing nostalgia, and emptiness with a sense of identity, purpose, and hope through interactivity is analyzed. It is evident that this was a new and exciting idea in 1990. However, today, interactivity within media is expected. While news may be fed to us over the television, individuals now have the ability to interact with their news online by leaving comments and filtering through the stories they wish to read. It is no longer fed to us in what is defined by Hershman as a “one-sided discourse, a trick mirror that absorbs rather than reflects”. Consumers with DVR are able to stop, playback, and rewind a network show whenever they like. They can fast-forward through commercials or go back to reanalyze a part of an episode. Moreover, the control that Hershman gave to users in her piece Deep Contact reminded me of a computer game I played when I was younger called The Sims. In this game, I would be given options on how to control a virtual character through their daily life as well as build their home. In this game, I was able to portray my own personal preferences and become one with the character. Therefore, the pieces that Hershman related in the 1980’s are still evident in media and today’s society.