Qanon as a Transmedia Storytelling

The communicative nature of QAnon's most ambitious contemporary conspiracy theory is the focus of this study. According to some preliminary speculation, QAnon's incredible popularity lies in its superficial resemblance to an alternate reality game and a live-action role-playing game. This is true, but the authors present a system of arguments proving that QAnon is primarily a transmedia project with all its inherent properties. Analysis of the QAnon open narrative system reveals the mechanisms of its work and sheds light on its prospects. The question of the spontaneity or purposefulness of the QAnon project remains unclear, the authors left it out of the equation, since this is not so much a scientific problem as a socio-political one. The authors preface their analysis with a reflection on conspiracy theory, which is essential for understanding the phenomenon under study. It is emphasised that there is a close link between conspiracy thinking and other ways of making sense of reality, in the humanities and social sciences it is traditional to identify the hidden motives behind what is happening. The content of conspiracy narratives usually has predictable elements. QAnon conspiracy theory has been found to follow all seven principles of transmedia narrative.