Lost Across the Mediums

The participatory culture around lost is further strengthened through the establishment of a brand loyalty to the show. Through the horizontal integration of the Lost franchise across variety of media platforms, the producers ensure that Lost viewers are “buy[ing] into a prolonged relationship with a [its] narrative universe, which is rich enough and complex enough to sustain their interest over time” (Jenkins) through mediums such as an alternate reality game, canonical mini web-episodes, books, encyclopedias, video games, and more.

For example, the Verizon-sponsored series Missing Pieces consists of short, minutes long episodes based upon characters of the show.  The thirteen clips are all unrelated from each other, in no chronological order.  The series allow fans to learn more about individual characters, allowing a personal, biographical exploration into their lives.  The Missing Pieces can be viewed here.

The Lost Experience is another example of how producers of the show expanded the franchise across mediums to allow for multiple points of consumption and involvement of its fans.  It is an alternate reality game that served a dual purpose of both marketing the show and exposing more content to its fans.  Many websites are dedicated to the game, such as The Lost Experience, The Lost Experience Timeline, and The Lost Experience Clues.  

What sets Lost apart from traditional shows is that it not only designed to establish a relationship with viewers across various mediums, but it also actively demands a strong commitment and participation from viewers within the show themselves. Through it is an example of recent “corporate movement towards media convergence and the unleashing of significant new tools which enable the grassroots archiving, annotation, appropriation, and recirculation of media content” (Jenkins) that is participatory culture, Lost also pushes this participation and involvement of fans to the next level through a new form of heightened interactivity between not only the fan community, but the show itself.

(A video created by fans laying out all the unanswered mysterious within the show at the beginning of the final season.)

The format of the show itself forces viewers to shift from the passive viewership of traditional television into a more active participation and involvement through its extensive plot twists, mysterious philosophical and mythological nature, and format that somewhat resembles a video game, as it keeps viewers guessing and on edge throughout its seasons. Its mysterious nature demands from viewers 100% participation and commitment, encouraging them to find the many mysterious and easter eggs hidden within both the episodes and the various mediums of its horizontal convergence. It is through this new level of active engagement and involvement of its fans and viewers that allows Lost to bridge the gap from traditional new media to an new era of interactivity and active engagement.