In class, when we were talking about transmedia, it mostly had to do with storytelling - like how the story behind The Matrix was constructed. Other forms of media, like magazines and newspapers have also resorted to using the internet to promote their readership. My mother recently got her favorite cooking magazine, Taste of Home, in the mail. She keeps telling me over and over that she wants to cancel her subscription because she hates the new format that TOH has been using. As I was flipping through the current issue, I saw a few articles that normally would have included a recipe on the same page. Instead of printing the recipe in the magazine, TOH instructs its readers to go online to search for it (which is very annoying, especially if the ingredients don't look so appetizing!)
On their website, they have cooking videos, a very nice search engine, and a community that is formed around the magazine (had I known about this sooner, I would have wanted to conduct my ethnography on it). Also, this magazine (in order to appease its readers for raising the price of a subscription) keeps sending us these how-to-cook DVDs. While its a clever way to use transmedia, it is also costly. Perhaps newpapers aren't the only ones in trouble financially...
Mary,
ReplyDeleteThese are great observations, and it's clear you know a healthy amount about transmedia, which is way cool. My concern about the example you're giving here is that developers of transmedia content must be extremely sensitive to the desires and aspirations of their audience.
Your Mom's frustration with the magazine is a bad sign, as it is more than probably an indication of the feelings of many other readers. I've always theorized that the "driving platform" in a transmedia implementation (in this case the magazine) is obliged to carry the information most needed by a mass audience.
While off-shoot content (or "pods" as I call them) should contain relevant, meaningful and engaging content that adds significantly to the whole, in this case the web site is subverting the magazine by containing content that is seen as vital to the magazine's readership. Making the jump to another medium for this particular audience is simply too difficult, time-consuming or impossible, because of access, low computer literacy, etc.
So, interestingly, Taste of Home is investing a good deal of cash into endeavors that are likely unappealing to its audience. I'm sure you'll agree that we're all for transmedia, but it must be well-applied transmedia if it's going to progress our culture.
Jeff Gomez
CEO
Starlight Runner Entertainment
jeff@starlightrunner.com