"Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story. So, for example, in The Matrix franchise, key bits of information are conveyed through three live action films, a series of animated shorts, two collections of comic book stories, and several video games. There is no one single source or ur-text where one can turn to gain all of the information needed to comprehend the Matrix universe." (Henry Jenkins, "Storytelling 101")

The anchoring work of a transmedia property. For our purposes, this will consistently be referring to a TV series (or in the case of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a YouTube series). 

These are textual outposts — all those pieces that surround a property but aren't the thing itself. That can include promotional websites and social profiles, merchandise, or behind-the-scenes materials. It can also refer to narrative outposts that expand upon the story delivered through the mother ship.

Fans can engage in two transmedia tendencies that Jason Mittell outlines in Complex TV: “What Is” transmedia extensions and “What If?” transmedia paratexts. Mittel defines a “What Is” transmedia extension as “scattering narrative understanding across a variety of extensions to be reassembled by a collective team of die-hard fans to piece together the elaborate puzzle.” 

On the other hand, “What If?” transmedia paratexts “pose hypothetical possibilities rather than canonical certainties, inviting viewers to imagine alternative stories and approaches to storytelling that are distinctly not to be treated as potential canon.” All of this is fueled by an “encyclopedic impulse” in both content creators and consumers by which “we are drawn to master what can be known about a world which always expands beyond our grasp.”