From #AltErLove to #LoveIsLove: Transmedia formats, audience engagement and sexual diversity

Abstract

SKAM (2015–2017) and its Flemish adaptation wtFOCK (2018–2021) use several digital platforms to provide viewers with content, enabling different types of audience engagement. By means of a social media analysis, this study investigates how producers utilise transmedia tools to enhance viewers’ involvement with the depicted storyline and how viewers interact with the provided content on LGBTQ issues. An analysis of Instagram comments and posts illustrates three different ways audience members gather online: Instagram serves as (1) a platform to connect while co-viewing, (2) a safe environment against homophobia, and (3) a collective of television critics. Transmedia formats like SKAM and wtFOCK contribute to inclusive depictions of sexual minorities and generate accessible spaces for LGBTQ individuals and allies to engage with one another online.