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Part II. Storytelling in the Information Age | 59
differ significantly from the original comic book as new characters and plot
threads appear in it, and an expansion of the storyworld can be observed
through other media (Jin, 2020a).
Thus, the presentation of a narrative on different platforms can be clearly
excluded from the category of transmedia storytelling, considering that a
reader is still reading the same narrative regardless of whether the book is
published in e-book or print form. It is therefore a key question whether
adaptation can be considered transmedia storytelling at all. According to
Jenkins (2010), adaptation is a representation of the same narrative through
a different medium and, in this sense, a redundancy of content. Adaptations
do not add new characters and episodes to the storyworld, and in this sense,
they do not represent transmedia expansions. However, we should not forget
that although the story may be identical, the plot and the representational
properties of the medium may provide different aesthetic experiences for
the audience. The boundaries of transmedia storytelling are difficult to
define, as the use of multiple platforms is not always transmedia storytelling.
Transmedia storytelling is the narrative extension of the storyworld revealed
in the central narrative presented through different media.
Transmedia storytelling is not limited to digital platforms, but is often
present on digital platforms and applications. Narrative representation can
adapt to the medium’s representation forms. The majority of new media
allow not only reception and individual interpretation, but also the active
participation of the user in shaping the extended storyworld. Many platforms
are designed with user participation in mind, allowing the recipient to break
the fictional framework through interactions and interventions, extending
the narrative into the world of the participant-recipient user.
Narrative transformations through user interaction are added to the
storyworld when a new media platform is used. At the same time, new
media must also take into account the representational possibilities of stories.
Narrative extensions on new media platforms, especially social media, are
compressed in order to adapt to the specificities of the platforms and user
habits. Miller argues that in our snack culture, users consume quickly and
easily accessible narrative fragments of minimal narrative formats created
on digital platforms (Miller, 2007, cf. Jin, 2020a). This is a new habitus of
information and culture consumption: users take in or reflect on fragmented
micro-narratives during their free time via mobile devices.
The extended transmedia narrative can appear on many different platforms
and in many different forms of representation. For a more detailed general
definition, Jenkins’ (2009a, 2009b) seven principles (cf. McAdams, 2016) are
helpful, with the most relevant ones listed below:
Spreadability vs. Drillability
The opposites above represent a fundamental spectrum of reception.
Transmedia storytelling is characterized by its shareability and ease of