Using Facebook, YouTube etc in YA novels

Joining the group that says to use the real names. Unless it's something in the far-away future, I see no reason why not call it Facebook and YouTube.

I think that it's better to use the real names and pick and choose when you need them, cutting away when you don't.

In the case of my own book, I'm using them without worrying about dating the book. The book has to be set within a specific date for it to make sense because of what happens in the story, and adding "real" details mixed with the more magic based aspects of the book grounds it, in my opinion.

Ultimately you need to do what you feel is best for your own story. Good luck!

Yeah, just use the real names when you need to and don't when you don't.

I definitely support using the real names. I used Facebook a lot in A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE, actually at the request of my editor (originally it was not an online issue, but making it Facebook bullying made it more real.) It is possible it'll date your book down the road, but with movies like the Social Network out there, people won't forget FB for quite a while. And YouTube is so big, I imagine it'll be the same way.

Another vote for using the real names. I've used them in WIPs. At first I did worry about dating the book, but I also don't like it when the author makes up a fake name. I think definitely use the real ones.

I have wondered this myself so just wanted to say thanks for posting the question and for the answers! The best option does seem to be leave them in, and if an editor said take them out to do it then. Editors will come across this all the time I'm sure and have a line on it.

(I tend to write stuff set in the future so I am wanting to make stuff up to differentiate - and I still worry it'll sound cheesy and ripped off of today!)

I mean, I have seen A LOT of people make fun of the scene in Twilight where Bella looks up vampires using her "favorite Internet search engine." It's Google. She's using Google. Everyone knows she's using Google.

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I had this in mind when I saw the title of the thread!

I'm using Facebook in my WiP. I had the same concern that perhaps it's best not to use the real name, but I couldn't bring myself to make up a fake social networking site.

Yeasayer said:

The name of the Facebook/MySpace mashup on this one ABC soap called One Life to Live was called MyFace. It always seemed kind of hokey to me.

I feel like it's only in YA that everyone is so concerned with 'dating' their work. In most adult fiction, it seems like there is a specific, named time period so it's okay to mention websites, movies, music, current events of the time, etc.

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On the British soap Coronation Street, they call it FaceSpace.

Thanks for this thread! I have a character who is a beauty vlogger on Youtube. She is interviewed on an Oprah-like show and it feels strange for the interviewer to say: "You now have over five hundred thousand subscribers on your social media channel."

Yeah, but all the cool kids are on tumblr. Podcasts, y'all.

Odd man out here, unless it's Contemporary I usually make up names. Contemp deserves to be dated, but anything else I want to be timeless.

I admit to using the term "FaceSpace" in a NA manuscript, and I'M NOT ASHAMED

If you're writing contemporary, please don't worry about "dating" your novel.

There's nothing wrong with your story taking place in 2015.

Glad I found this. A character makes her fashion money through a Youtube channel (into her parents' account and thus to her), and I'd feel stupid using a made-up name.

kuwisdelu said:

If you're writing contemporary, please don't worry about "dating" your novel.

There's nothing wrong with your story taking place in 2015.

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Agreed. I tend to avoid current popular music references so hypothetical readers in a few years won't roll their eyes, but other than that... I don't think books need to take place in a time vacuum.

In fact, I find it unavoidable to not pick a specific year for my contemporaries (and contemporary fantasies) to be set in. That's because in each of them, holidays have been a plot point, and I mention what day of the week the holiday is on. Halloween is on a Saturday in 2015, so my book must either take place this year, or in 2020. Or 2009. You get the idea.

It doesn't really bother me either way, if the text explicitly references actual social media sites, or keeps it kinda vague ("I watched the video online" without naming a site) or makes stuff up. As long as whatever system the author is using gets the idea across clearly, cool. Personally, I've used real sites when I wanted to convey really specific images efficiently, been vague when it didn't matter, and made ones up when I wanted them to function in really specific ways that weren't quite in line with any of the social media I use (or if I wanted a site that functioned as a combination of a couple of different sites).

I don't really buy the argument that outdated references in a text make it unreadable for future generations. If a book's good, readers will pay close enough attention to figure things out contextually. My favourite books growing up were mostly written in the '60s & '70s. I had no idea about most of the pop culture stuff they referenced, but I didn't hold it against them. There's lots of 80s/90s specific tech in Calvin & Hobbes, and I've seen kids who are currently 4 years old go bananas over those comics.

I kind of like a mix of made up and real social media in a book. I don't mind mentions of Facebook, depending on the story, though sometimes keeping it vague works fine. I wrote a MS where I made up a Pinterest like site, and because that had to do with part of the plot, I wanted it to have its own identity apart from a real product. The idea of collecting images and profiles isn't unique to Pinterest.

In reading a recent YA, I was a little put off by too many pop culture references. Especially since some of them felt to me like references an adult would be more prone to make over a teen. In that regard, I think it's best to use them sparingly.

In today's age brands are products themselves.. Example Google and YouTube. How often do we hear people say Google it or I'll watch it on youtube?

I think Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (delightful book, by the way!) does this very well. Major plot points happen over Tumblr, and it comes across as necessary, natural and very 2015 (which is a good thing).

Yeasayer said:

I feel like it's only in YA that everyone is so concerned with 'dating' their work. In most adult fiction, it seems like there is a specific, named time period so it's okay to mention websites, movies, music, current events of the time, etc.

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I live with teenagers. They can be merciless towards anything that isn't up-to-date or 'with it.' They're quick to feel adults are out of touch and turn off to them. I think this is why YA writers obsess more than if we were writing for adults.

I'm a bit surprised the majority vote is for using the real names but that's not to say I think fake names work better. I think it depends on what kind of fiction you're reading/writing. My favorite fiction occurs in today's age but deals with mystical occurrences (less about outright superpowers and more about hard-or-impossible-to-explain phenomena), and for that reason, those stories go to extra lengths to keep a timeless quality and avoid pop culture references, including websites. I don't remember the scene in Twilight the book, but I remember noticing it in the movie. It made me wonder if there were legal reasons the name 'Google' didn't appear (IIRC) and I just accepted it as something they had to do. Similar to how movies use the '555' number as someone mentioned upthread... because can you imagine if they didn't?

I think it's certainly acceptable. People make reference to those web sites so often these days I'd be surprised if any one of them will lose popularity any time within the next 5-10 years.

I'd use the real names if a name is really needed or preferred. It dates the novel. But that is okay. The followings date the novel as well:

- He swipes on his phone (20 years later nobody swipes on anything!!!!!)
- She takes out her phone (20 years later nobody takes out a phone. They're all wearable or implanted!!!!!)
- She dials his number (nah, Siri/Cortana/Nowlina will do that all)
- He stepped over to the payphone (hello? What is a payphone?)
- She takes out a condom (Mom, what is a condom? Oh, that's antique for i-Injection.)

If I can see into the future 20 years from now, writing or reviewing or selling a novel will be the least on my mind.