History Main / FollowTheLeader

* AscendedFanFic (started as fan fiction, morphed into original fiction)

* During its latter-day struggles to stay relevant, Platform/{{MySpace}} tried copying Platform/{{Facebook}} and Platform/{{Twitter}}, and forcing updates that nobody wanted, to the point where those who hadn't already left for those sites got fed up and left too.

* ''WebAnimation/ASDFMovie'' has had dozens of remakes in real life, LEGO, ''VideoGame/MineCraft'', ''VideoGame/HappyWheels'', ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'', ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'', ''Black Ops 2'', SFM and so on. They all play the audio of one or more of the original videos over their own animation and meet varying success. There are also a dozen Website/YouTube Poops and even fan made sequels.
* ''WebVideo/AMVHell''. Though the format likely started with ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', it was AMV Hell that defined it as a Website/YouTube staple and fan work in general, with notable entries like ''WebAnimation/TheGModIdiotBox'' and ''WebVideo/PoniesTheAnthology''.

** Website/{{Newgrounds}} encourages this, they made a "Madness Day" (Sept. 22nd) so fans could make flash games and movies, popular series include Xionic Madness, and the aforementioned Bunnykill and Maximum Ninja.

* In that vein, ''Website/TheAgonyBooth'' re-tailored their site in the early tens to emulate Website/ChannelAwesome, supplementing their old text reviews with "prop comic" reviewers and videos. Most of these were received with lukewarm responses at best. Unfortunately the long-form recaps that had been the site's signature and unique appeal were completely abandoned to make room. The majority of the new critics were [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony Experiment]] knock-offs who used to advertise on his forum and on Website/YouTube before being picked up. Says something the Booth eventually focused back on text-based content with only the occasional video. A similar website, Reviewtopia, was lambasted for trying to copy the success of TGWTG, and most of those critics were absorbed into the TGWTG mothership within a few months. The "success" of WebVideo/TheBlockbusterBuster and Oancitizen came about because of this.

* When it first began to get popular, Website/{{Facebook}} did so by copying things from Website/{{MySpace}}. And now that Facebook is the top social networking site, [=MySpace=] has been slowly becoming more and more like Facebook.
* During its latter-day struggles to stay relevant, Website/{{MySpace}} tried copying Website/{{Facebook}} and Website/{{Twitter}}, and forcing updates that nobody wanted, to the point where those who hadn't already left for those sites got fed up and left too.
* Reddit has been bastardizing memes from Website/FourChan, most infamously, though not limited to, rage comics. It's everything now that 4Chan makes that they steal and proclaim is original, and that they made it up, despite some of them having existed since long before the site's creation. Most infamously is that they ''love'' to claim they invented the [[MemeticMutation Trollface]], despite it coming from [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/001/072/Trollface.png this comic]] by Website/DeviantArt user [[https://web.archive.org/web/20181122104603/https://www.deviantart.com/whynne Whynne]].
* {{Platform/Steam}} has a Livestream feature for all the games in its catalog. This may be following the footsteps of other video game livestream websites such as Website/{{Twitch}}.

* CaptainErsatz (applied to character instead of works)

* Creator/DisneyPlus kickstarted the buisness model of streaming services owned by media conglomerates, thus removing the need to license out thier films and TV shows to pre-existing services, as they can just host it all themselves. The success of Disney+ was soon followed by other companies doing the same. These include Creator/NBCUniversal starting Creator/{{Peacock}}, Creator/ParamountGlobal starting Creator/ParamountPlus, and [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery WarnerMedia]] starting Creator/HBOMax. For better or for worse, Disney+ is the major reason why the streaming industry became so segmented in TheNewTwenties.
** Something important to take note of here is why Disney+ took off in the first place. [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope Disney's library is huge]], and almost all of their back catalogue was made available on the service day one. Other companies tried to copy this by dumping everything they could all at once, but none of them were nearly as big. That being said, however, said services also used other tactics to entice viewers into subscribing, such as Peacock being free with very little locked behind a paywall, or HBO Max being included with cable subscriptions to HBO.

* ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' pioneered the DatingSim genre with a clean but lovable game, showing that these games weren't just for the {{hentai}}. This trend continued with ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' ([[BleachedUnderpants ironically]], itself an HGame), which spawned many other H and non-H romance games that focused on the story and characters.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' casts the same sort of shadow over role-playing games (and that's '''''all''''' role-playing games ever produced, whether they be tabletop or video games) that Franchise/{{Superman}} casts over superhero comic books. If it's a role-playing game, it's playing Follow the Leader with ''D&D''. Even the recent trend toward more experimental games with more loosely-defined and user-contributed rules, such as ''{{TabletopGame/Fiasco}}'' or ''TabletopGame/MyLifeWithMaster'', is effectively one of {{Deconstruction}} of the TropeCreator.

* Pretty much every horror tabletop role playing game owes a debt to the ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' game, which was the TropeCreator for the SanityMeter.

** FollowTheLeader/AnimalsRule