Before the release date, with the details of the "plot" and monster still hidden, i did a little surfing of the viral websites attached to the film, e.g. "Slusho" frozen drinks, Tagruato exploration, TidoWave environmental activists, JamieAndTeddy.com
(you can find links and read more here:
http://cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com/ )
In this respect, building the backstory on the internet is interesting and enjoyable to be able to make some sense out of the movie, which doesn't give you a lot of explanation. Too bad they didn't work more of this back story in...maybe they're waiting for the sequel!