| Chapter 1: | Introduction and Underlying Assumptions |
|
|
It is created interactively in the process of reading, which is entirely interpretation. Therefore, instead of analyzing formal features of literary texts, Fish advocated focusing on the reader’s interpretation experience, as it unfolds in time.
The same philosophy of communication applies to Web sites. The Web site, taken as a text, is not a repository of meaning waiting to be extracted by Web site visitors. Meaning is created in the process of interaction between the visitor and the Web site. In this process, the pace and nature of the experience, along with words and images on screen, are subject to interpretation and therefore elements of meaning making. If we are to understand the role Web sites play in public relations, we have to look not only at Web site characteristics, but also at people’s experiences with those Web sites and the meanings that emerge from these experiences.
In addition to these theoretical reasons, there is a practical reason why it is preferable to examine the Web site experience and not the Web site alone. In the case of Web site analysis, it is hard to analyze the text (Web site), because the text is fluid and potentially varies with each visitor (Aarseth, 1997; Landow, 1994; McMillan, 2000; Slatin, 1991). At a very concrete level, the Web site text is created by each visitor through the choice of links and pages to view. If the text varies with each visit, then what is the text that should be analyzed? And by analyzing the text alone, don’t researchers miss out on the significance of the choices Web site users make?
The risks of adopting an interpretive, experience-focused perspective are endless relativism and subjectivism. If text and interpretation vary with each Web site visitor, one could argue that there are no similarities among different Web site visits or across Web site visitors. Therefore, experiences should be studied one at a time, without any hope or possibility for generalization.