I'm back sooner than expected with part two of this series that is a deep dive into the perils of social media. In this episode we cover the topic of parasociality (from wikipedia):
Parasocial interaction (PSI) refers to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in the mass media, particularly on television and on online platforms. Viewers or listeners come to consider media personalities as friends, despite having no or limited interactions with them. PSI is described as an illusory experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show hosts, celebrities, fictional characters, social media influencers) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them. The term was coined by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956.
This episode is drawn from two articles I wrote on this subject over on my Substack. Subscribe for more!