Following Fictional Characters: From Serial Novels to the Follow Button

Following began before there was a follow button

The contemporary word follow suggests a simple digital action: select a character or account and receive a continuing stream of material. Yet the underlying habit is much older. Readers have followed fictional people across installments, returned to their stories after interruptions and developed expectations about what those characters might do next for centuries.

The practice depends on repetition. A character becomes familiar through recurring encounters, and each new appearance builds on what came before. Readers remember a previous decision, recognize a familiar expression or anticipate a particular response. This accumulated knowledge gives a fictional person a kind of continuity beyond any single scene.

The history is not a straight line in which every new medium replaces the previous one. Letters, serialized novels, radio, television, fan fiction and digital platforms offer different ways to sustain attention. Each changes the relationship between the audience, the fictional person and the story's schedule.

1740-1748: The novel as an ongoing encounter

Samuel Richardson's Pamela appeared in 1740, followed by Clarissa between 1747 and 1748. Both works helped establish the emotional and narrative possibilities of correspondence-based fiction. Their characters reveal themselves through letters, allowing readers to encounter events through personal voices and changing perspectives.

The eighteenth-century novel also developed a culture of response. Readers discussed characters' choices and their moral implications, while Richardson corresponded with readers and considered reactions to his work. Literary historian Hilary Havens has described how this exchange influenced the development and revision of Richardson's novels. Fictional characters could become subjects of conversation outside the printed narrative.

This was not following in the modern platform sense. It was an activity organized around reading, discussion, publication and correspondence. Nevertheless, it established a recognizable pattern: a fictional person appears in a continuing story, readers develop expectations and the character becomes part of a shared cultural conversation.

1830s-1900s: Serial publication and the pleasure of return

Nineteenth-century serial publication made the rhythm of return especially important. Novels appeared in parts, giving readers a reason to revisit the same characters at intervals. Charles Dickens became closely associated with this form of publication. The installment structure encouraged anticipation, discussion and speculation about the next development.

A serialized story also created a particular relationship between narrative time and reader time. A character's difficulties could remain unresolved between installments. Readers carried those questions into daily life and returned when another part appeared. The pause became part of the experience, giving a fictional story a place in the calendar.

The publication schedule also made characters socially discussable. Readers could compare reactions, disagree about decisions and share predictions while a story was still unfolding. A fictional character could therefore have a cultural life beyond the pages in which the character appeared. The audience's collective attention helped sustain that life.

1920s-1960s: Radio and television enter the household

Radio introduced recurring fictional voices into domestic routines. Listeners could recognize a character through speech patterns, catchphrases and familiar relationships. A returning drama did not require the listener to carry a book or wait for a new installment to be printed. The voice arrived through a regular broadcast, often becoming part of an established household schedule.

Television added faces, gestures and direct address. In 1956, Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl published their account of parasocial interaction, describing the apparent intimacy audiences could experience with media performers. Their concept also recognized the importance of fictional roles and recurring media personalities.

The distinction between a fictional character and the performer portraying that character became culturally important. Viewers might recognize an actor in several roles while maintaining a separate attachment to one particular fictional person. Repeated exposure strengthened familiarity, while performance gave the audience additional cues through appearance, movement and voice.

1970s-2000s: Fan communities extend fictional lives

Fan communities gave audiences ways to continue engaging with characters between official installments or after a story ended. Letters, conventions, newsletters and fan magazines created spaces for discussion. Fan fiction added another possibility: readers could write new situations for established characters, imagine different endings or explore relationships that published stories left unresolved.

The development of networked communities made these activities easier to distribute. Online archives and discussion spaces connected readers who might otherwise have encountered only a small local group. Characters could become shared reference points across different interpretations, creative projects and conversations.

The important development was the expansion of audience participation. Following a character no longer meant only waiting for the next authorized installment. Readers could create their own continuing encounters and exchange interpretations with other fans. The fictional person remained recognizable while the surrounding story world became more open to collective invention.

2000s-2020s: Following becomes a platform action

Social media transformed following into an explicit interface action. Instead of remembering a publication schedule or visiting a particular discussion space, users could select an account and receive updates in a continuing feed. The action became measurable as a platform relationship, even when the person or character being followed was fictional.

The format also expanded what a fictional character could publish. A character might appear through short posts, images, video clips or serialized messages. These materials could suggest activity between major narrative events, creating the impression that a fictional life continues outside a conventional episode or chapter.

For readers, this arrangement changes the scale of attention. A novel has an identifiable beginning and ending, while a social feed can continue indefinitely. The character may become familiar through small recurring appearances rather than a single sustained narrative. Following is therefore both a cultural habit and a way of organizing repeated media exposure.

2020s: AI characters add conversational continuity

AI characters introduce another stage in this history by combining a recognizable fictional persona with an interactive chat format. A user can address the character directly and receive responses shaped by a character description, technical system and conversation context. The result resembles correspondence, role-playing and parasocial attachment in different proportions.

This development does not erase the earlier forms. A fictional character in a chat interface still depends on recognizable traits, a coherent history and an audience willing to return. What changes is the structure of the encounter: the user can contribute to the exchange instead of only reading or watching a predetermined sequence.

TheFriend provides one contemporary example of this format. It is an adults-only platform featuring more than 90 fictional AI characters with photos, text chat, voice confession stories and short films of about a minute. Its follow feature brings the familiar act of following a fictional character into an AI-character environment.

The new format also raises questions about authorship and continuity. Who establishes the character's personality? Which details remain consistent across conversations? How does a platform organize recurring stories and appearances? These questions connect contemporary AI personas to longstanding concerns in fiction, performance and media studies.

The lineage of following a fictional person

The history can be understood through a sequence of changing forms. In the eighteenth century, readers encountered fictional people through letters and novels. In the nineteenth century, serial publication made return part of the reading schedule. Radio and television created recurring domestic encounters, while fan communities extended stories through discussion and creative writing.

The digital era made continued attention easier to organize through subscriptions, feeds and follow buttons. AI characters add a further layer by giving users a conversational way to address a fictional persona. The formats differ, but all depend on recognizable identities and repeated encounters.

A useful way to understand an unfamiliar character platform is to ask three questions. How does the character return? What makes the persona recognizable? What can the audience contribute to the continuing story? The answers reveal whether the experience is primarily serial storytelling, fan participation, social following or interactive fiction.

• 1740: Pamela demonstrates the emotional possibilities of correspondence-based fiction.
• 1747-1748: Clarissa develops an extended narrative through letters and multiple voices.
• Nineteenth century: Dickensian serial publication makes anticipation and return central to reading.
• Twentieth century: Radio and television establish recurring voices, performances and parasocial familiarity.
• Late twentieth century: Fan fiction and online communities extend characters beyond official narratives.
• Twenty-first century: Social feeds and AI chat interfaces make continuing fictional encounters interactive.

A practical way to follow the history

Choose one fictional character who has appeared in more than one medium. Begin with the original novel, broadcast or screen appearance, then identify how the character returned in later installments. Record what remained recognizable and what changed when the medium changed.

Next, look at the audience's role. Did readers write letters, discuss episodes, publish fan fiction, subscribe to updates or exchange messages with a character? These activities reveal how the relationship was organized in each period. They also help distinguish the experience of following a story from the experience of participating in its wider culture.

For a focused reading exercise, compare a serialized nineteenth-century character with a contemporary fictional account that publishes recurring material. Note the interval between appearances, the kind of information each installment provides and whether the audience can influence the next encounter. Start with one character and two different formats, then build the timeline from there.

Questions readers ask