Where is Lizzie Bennet? Everywhere Else.
Stretching out from the YouTube mother ship, LBD finds harbor in dozens of spots across the web, veritably inventing the narrative and character-building opportunities of social platforms that are both common and obscure. Ricky Collins, the most professionally-driven character in the bunch, can be found on LinkedIn. Resident Lothario George Wickham scams on more girls than just Gigi Darcy and Lydia Bennet over on OkCupid.
Jane Bennet, Lizzie's sartorially-minded older sister, can be found engaging with fashionistas on LookBook. She shows off her latest ensembles, shares where she found her favorite new accessories, and compliments other users from around the globe (perhaps LBD fans, perhaps not) on their fresh looks. On a Looks By Jane Tumblr page, Jane not only shares her own ensembles, but features other LookBook users' photos, as well as fan-made art (which collapses the divide between character-establishing narrative play and fan-to-performer connectivity).
Some of these paratexts are made apparent to fans by way of Twitter or the Lizzie Bennet website's timeline; others are left hiding in plain sight, waiting for a fan to discover a character's profile and unleash it to the hive.
One example of that approach is Gigi Darcy's presence on This Is My Jam. LBD's transmedia editor Alexandra Edwards took on the role of Gigi to create playlists in character, discussing musical choices with fans and ultimately shedding insight on Gigi's emotional state in the scheme of the narrative. What's noteworthy about this is that Gigi's activity on This Is My Jam begins in May 2012; the character doesn't come into Lizzie's consciousness (and thus doesn't appear in the YouTube series) until episode 77, which was released on January 7, 2013. In establishing this character long before she entered the narrative fray, LBD gives Gigi depth and authenticity that makes her presence in the story much later on all the more resonant.
LBD's transmedia producer Jay Bushman explained this approach in personal correspondence:
“We seeded Gigi’s character from almost the very beginning, where you’d get to learn about her journey recovering from Wickham’s abuse through her music choices, so when she entered the main storyline she came with a whole history. These were some of my favorite parts of the show — not just the surprise element, but the way it makes the story suddenly coruscate out into a much wider world. So the first idea for that was to have Bing, Caroline and Darcy tweet among themselves for the first month (in fact, Darcy’s first tweet was published before the first episode went live) but not reveal that fact until almost a month in, when Jane and Bing first meet and begin following each other on Twitter. That was the moment, I think, when the show really started to take off and to generate the amazing connection with the audience.”
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