tellees

Tellees is a term used in some discussions of communication to denote individuals who receive and interpret narratives transmitted by tellers. The word is formed from the verb tell with the agent suffix -ee, similar to terms like addressee or employee, and is used mainly in theoretical debates about storytelling, information flow, and media ecology. In this framework, a teller is the source or producer of the narrative, while the tellees are the audience or recipients who decode, interpret, remember, and potentially propagate the tale.

In traditional settings, tellees listen to and recall stories told aloud by communal storytellers. In contemporary digital environments, tellees are readers, viewers, or followers who engage through comments, shares, remakes, and retellings, thereby shaping the meaning and reach of a narrative. The concept emphasizes the active role of audiences in the life of a tale, highlighting how reception, interpretation, and reproduction influence information dynamics.

Criticism of the term includes concerns that it can oversimplify complex interaction patterns, where roles are fluid and multiple participants act as tellers and/or tellees across different moments and platforms. The term is not uniformly standardized and remains more common in exploratory or theoretical writing than in established terminology.

See also: audience, reception theory, communication model, storytelling, retelling, information theory.