THE FEATURE OF TRANSMEDIA USERS

The development of information technology meant more than the simple quantitative increase of cultural consumption.

Broadband networks, for example, were instrumental in helping users move beyond simply consuming cultural products, allowing them to act as mediators or even producers. Such networks permitted users to overcome the technological restraints, the cultural boundaries between producer and consumer, and the institutional limitations of previous systems, each freeing the individual to develop his or her own method of cultural production and sharing.

The users of transmedia treat the spaces of communication and possession spawned by multiple media forms as a single arena, where cultural production is shared and experienced through various unions and links. This cultural phenomenon is unique to transmedia, and different from the cultural phenomena of prior eras. From a sociological perspective, it is important to understand the changes in the behavior of consumers who have been freed from the traditional restraints of standard cultural consumption, as well as the significance of such changes.

Transmedia users absorb content on the screens of PCs, iPods, PMPs, and mobile phones visually, adapting its narrative to their own lives as they see fit. Through online communities and social media, they can share and edit their adaptations in real time.

The restructuring of people’s lives around media means that new social relationships are forming from the networks that connect people. Rather than being drawn in by fleeting interest in a topic and eventually abandoning membership, people in networks revolving around shared interests often allow this sense of community to affect their personal interests and lifestyle.

How about you? Share your experiences as a user of transmedia contents.