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Posted on Sun, May 23, 2010 : 5:55 a.m.

"Lost," harnessing the digitized water cooler, captivated Ann Arbor fans

By Nathan Bomey

The Internet, in a peculiar sense, is a smoke monster — constantly evolving, incredibly intelligent, wildly unpredictable, occasionally out of control, totally preposterous and yet thoroughly mesmerizing.

That, then, makes it a perfect companion for “Lost,” whose own fictional smoke monster has been mystifying fans of the ABC hit show for nearly six years.

Lost social media ABC.jpg

Island legend Jacob anoints castaway leader Jack Shephard as the protector of the island during Tuesday's episode of ABC's hit show "Lost."

Photo courtesy of ABC MediaNet

The Ann Arbor region’s most enthusiastic “Lost” fans — and even its skeptics — are desperate for answers tonight, when ABC airs the long-awaited series finale. From John Locke’s quest to leave the island, to the love quadrangle between Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet, fans want closure.

But not everyone is waiting for answers. Since creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof launched the show in September 2004, many fans have stormed the Internet, furiously searching for clues, sharing theories, dodging spoilers, seeking spoilers and even scavenging fake websites created by the show to stir up interest.

“Lost” was one of the first major TV shows that existed not just on the screen itself, but in the digital world, as well.

“It was a business strategy as much as anything else, and I think ‘Lost’ provides a case study for another way that television networks and shows will exist in the future,” said Amanda Lotz, a TV industry expert and associate professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan.

“The way in which this kind of storytelling tapped into fan culture (showed) that the deeply motivated viewer is an important part of the television environment and is something that can be catered to.”

“Lost” illuminated a new reality: The water cooler has gone digital.

Take Ann Arbor resident Mazin Assani, for example. During the nine-month hiatus between the show’s fifth and sixth seasons, Assani said, he spent 10 hours per week hunting for clues online, sharing theories and analyzing past episodes. He favored sites like DarkUFO, Entertainment Weekly and exhaustive fan wiki Lostpedia.

More "Lost" stories

“The show is kind of unique because it’s such an overarching mythology of constant mysteries and questions, so people generated a lot of theories,” Assani said. “There were some sites that had a whole mechanism for just posting theories. It was just a good launching point for discussions that might not even have all that much to do with ‘Lost,’ — but it could, you just don’t know yet.”

The complexity of the show’s narrative — the polar bears, the guy who never ages, the flashbacks, the flash-forwards, the flash-sideways — encouraged controlled hysteria online.

“I think ‘Lost’ is one of those shows where it’s almost better to watch if you have Wikipedia handy because there are so many Easter eggs in the show,” said Charlie Wollborg, a social media expert, avid fan and founding partner of marketing firm Curve Detroit. “You see a book on the shelf and you immediately research what’s the plot of that book and how does that relate to the show? Same thing with music.”

Wollborg, who has more than 7,000 Twitter followers, said the relationship between “Lost” and social media was natural. Wollborg and his social media friends have an agreement during the show: “Lost” tweets are allowed only during the commercials so that no one gets distracted during the actual show.

“Lost,” like social media, encourages people to explore connections, he said.

“Twitter users are like Curious George. They click blind links, they talk to people they don’t know. ‘Lost’ really feeds the curiosity in a way that social media does,” Wollborg said.

“Lost” producers encouraged the craze by creating fake websites with clues to the show’s plot. For example, a website for the fictitious Oceanic Airlines gave fans clues about the plane crash that started the series premiere. After Season 2, the producers created an online “alternate reality” game called “The Lost Experience,” in which fans tracked down clues planted throughout the Web to get additional information about the show’s plot.

Locke-Dynamite.jpg

John Locke, now otherwise known as the smoke monster, wants to leave the island.

Photo courtesy of ABC MediaNet

“It was for fans to have a way to interact and learn more and be part of the mystery,” said Rachel Kleinheksel, an Ann Arbor resident and avid “Lost” fan. “It just seems to kind of redefine what it means to be a fan of the show and redefines the fan experience.”

The Internet enabled “Lost” to maintain a complex mythology, because enthusiastic fans had an avenue to explore their questions and share theories.

“This allows more detail-oriented viewers who might ‘get into’ a program to be involved in an intellectual conversation that might otherwise bore most casual viewers,” said Jillann Chrzanowski, a Milan resident and “Lost” fan, via e-mail. “The loyal audience feels involved, which in turn beacons a challenge beyond predicting plot lines. There are several different storylines taking place at the same time which allows faithful viewers to have multiple conversations simultaneously.”

Before “Lost,” shows like “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Twin Peaks,” “The X-Files” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” cultivated intense fan devotion. Unlike those shows, though, “Lost” had the aid of the Web to connect fans and foster a new entertainment experience.

Still, it should be noted, not every “Lost” fan cares about the web-driven aspects of the show. In fact, “Lost” could not have succeeded without the casual fan who was just intrigued by the storytelling and invested in the characters.

“What’s notable is the way that ‘Lost’ has maintained its openness to a variety of different viewers,” said Lotz, the U-M professor. “I have been a faithful viewer of the show and that’s it. And yet the show made perfect sense to me and was a rich viewing experience.”

Even so, “Lost” fans are easy to spot.

“There aren’t many casual viewers,” Wollborg said. “You’re either in the club or you think we’re all nuts.”

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.

Comments

Dale

Sun, May 23, 2010 : 8:24 p.m.

I wish I could comment on this article's content. But I can't. Because of the lede...comparing the internet to the smoke monster? Besides being a simply idiotic comparison while grasping for some opening to connect "Lost" as a metaphor for the internet, it DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE. Have you seen Lost? Ever? Ever?!? The smoke monster doesn't evolve!And it features "incredibly intelligent" only in the sense it's a shape shifted-version of a seemingly eternal and evil human. But it carries no greater intelligence and just as much lacking of intelligence as the person behind it. Awful, awful, awful comparison. So bad, I can only assume the rest of the column will be wince-inducing as well too many times.

bunnyabbot

Sun, May 23, 2010 : 1:44 p.m.

it will con't in my dreams, where Richard, Desmond and I are the only people (happily so) on a tropical island

Lorrie Shaw

Sun, May 23, 2010 : 12:57 p.m.

I love LOST. Looking forward to tonight's finale, but sorry to see the Easter egg hunt go. It's been a unique show and I will second the notion and say that either you love it or think the rest of us are crazy. :)

GoBlue2009

Sun, May 23, 2010 : 11:15 a.m.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.