Exploring fans’ participation in digital media: Transcreation of webtoons

Abstract

The increasing popularity of webtoons, a popular type of digital content, has led to the emergence of an interesting phenomenon known as transcreation. Transcreation indicates fans’ twofold activity of both translating and recreating webtoons into a new language while maintaining the content’s originality. Although transcreators play a significant role in facilitating the spread of webtoons in the global market, the role of such transcreators has, to date, received scant attention. By employing a means-end chain approach through laddering interviews, this study explores the fans’ goal structure in the transcreation of webtoons. The results reveal that transcreation is an expression of enthusiasm toward webtoons and the creators, facilitating socialization and establishing a sense of belonging in the transcreation community. Fans improve their language skills with the aim of obtaining career-related benefits and enhance their expertise to achieve personal growth. Fans’ transcreation activity plays a vital role in the globalization of webtoons, facilitated by the platform’s socio-technical resources. This empirical study provides insights into fans’ active participation in the digital media industry.