The Online Lives of Fictional Characters

This paper discusses the novel pedagogical outcomes of a teaching module run between 2013 and 2018, which focused on character and narrative development for animation. As part of the project, students created social media accounts for fictional characters that they had previously created as physical puppets. These characters interacted with one another over the course of a term, using their social media pages as ‘pretence platforms' that narrated adventures and facilitated extended conversations—both amongst the fictional personas and between fictional characters and real users. While the project initially aimed to enhance students’ ideation processes and support the development of character design and narrative environments, it evolved into a broader study in pedagogy, social media studies, and creative community formation.

The paper explores how the online-mediated development of these characters generated subversive narratives and persona-driven communities that blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction—specifically between student creators and the personified fictional characters. Methodologically, it investigates the interplay between tacit and explicit knowledge during character development and how this fuels iterative cycles between making and researching.

The paper also examines how the use of social media, as platforms for intermedia, playful, story-based, and subversive activities, have informed innovative academic and pedagogic practices. In this context, it considers how such digitally mediated teaching methods can be adapted across diverse educational contexts. In doing so, it critically reframes social media as spaces that can foster imagination and creative pedagogy, while also exploring how platform policies and legislation relate to such collaborative and imaginative storytelling practices.