Can you write a fiction novel, but with real things in it?

[Casey]

this is probably really confusing, but if your writing a novel can you use/reference real things, such as Facebook, Twitter, songs, movies. also can you write a book, for example, about Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, etc. can they be in your fiction book? PLEASE ANSWER.
the lone writer; i like your answer...so, your saying that a book cant be ABOUT say, Justin bieber or TAylor Swift, or have them as a main character?

[BOBBOB]

yes, fiction is imaginary but can (and kinda has to) include elements from real life

[Belovedspace223]

Sure they mention stuff like that often in novels. I don't see what would be wrong with that.

[Fatimah]

Yeah you can.

[Sandy]

Yah as long as the plot is fictional or the characters.

[Colton]

Yes you can have those things in your book just as long as you make sure that the main story is about fiction but you can say stuff like twitter. Ex. The demon slayer later went on facebook

[Austin]

Yes, real life references are all over fiction. If you've ever seen the Sandlot, the boys love the baseball player Babe Ruth for example

[Belle G]

Definitely! You can throw in some real life things into a fiction novel, just as long as the storyline is fiction.

[the lone writer]

Stick with the real names, teams and other brand names...as long as they're just background. You might want to create fictitious names if your story purports to tell (say) the inside story on corruption in pro baseball.

By the same token, you can mention real people as long as you don't invade their privacy or defame them. So father and son could go to the game and watch Barry Bonds hit a home run—and I hope that describing such an event helps to advance the story or throw light on your characters. Not sure you'd want to have them go on to discuss his drug issues.

So you can make fair use of companies, government agencies, and real people. Back in the 1930s, Upton Sinclair wrote a series of thrillers in which President Roosevelt was a running character, giving orders to secret agent Lanny Budd.

The problem lies in defaming or invading the privacy of such persons. Then you could be in trouble.

Apart from legal trouble, the chief reason for creating a fictitious agency or community is to meet the needs of your story. Maybe you want a town something like Evanston, Illinois, but with a tough neighbourhood that doesn't really exist. So you create "Hunterston," and design the town to your specifications.

I've chosen my examples consciously: Evan Hunter (a pen name) used another pen name, Ed McBain, to write his 87th Precinct novels. They're set in "Isola," a city a lot like New York, but with its own geography and neighbourhoods. That made it possible to develop plots that wouldn't work in a "real" New York.

edit; you can't have them as a central character (as in, they're your protagonist) no, but you can have them as a character, so long as you do nothing to defame them or harm their reputation. For example, you can have Justin Bieber as someone your MC meets several times, but your MC cannot say that JB's singing sucks monkey balls because it defames him.

[Cassie the Weird]

Yes, of course they can.