Paratexts on a social network site and their relevance in the production of meaning—Results of a qualitative investigation of Twitter-Feeds

In this paper, paratexts as a component of developmental and marketing processes of movie-productions on Social Network Sites (SNS) are investigated. Paratexts are phenomena that prepare and accompany the reading and interpretation of texts/movies. First, a brief introduction into a complex and ambivalent state of research on paratexts will be given. Then the paper presents the results of a qualitative study, which was realized with the help of Grounded Theory, where marketing-paratexts of movie feeds on Twitter are at the center of the investigation. The research shows that movie-studios are manifoldly active on Social Network Sites and fall back on different paratextual materials that are placed around the medium as an interpretative perimeter. The associated activities are also characteristics of complex interactive processes. In this, recipients are actively involved. Producers/Production-Studios attempt to establish a relationship, whereby Social Network Sites are used as distributional and interactive platforms and as a vital part for preparing and developing a story.