I wondered how long it would be into quarantine before people on Twitter started getting even weirder about parasocial relationships and can now confirm: less time than this.

If you engage in the social internet & have not heard of parasocial relationships, please look them up!

In short: a parasocial interaction is what happens psychologically when you see someone's face, hear theor voice, or read their words enough to develop a sense of familiarity with them.

But you only know their projected persona, and their relationship tp you is COMMERCIAL.

That is, their livelihood depends on fans, and so, in interactions, they have incentive to remain personal and affable, to encourage that bond you feel -

But they don't know you. Your support is meaningful to them. But you, the individual, are unfamiliar to them.

This leads to all kinds of awkward boundary transgressions on your part as you speak to someone you see as a trusted friend whose life you are familiar with - and they are interacting with a pushy customer.

It also leads to a sense of betrayal when you realize the disconnect.

Now, am I saying that many celebrity or media figures are not delighted to cultivate personal interactions with fans? No!

But a celebrity with a hundred thousand fans *cannot* fulfill a hundred thousand feelings of friendship.

Please be aware, and don't presume a closeness.

Parasocial relationships can be positive and rewarding for both sides of the relationship, as long as both sides are clear-eyed about the nature of the relationship, and neither acts entitled to the other's affable attention.

Am I an expert on this subject? Friends and para-friends, I am not! If I have goofed in my description if parasocial interaction, please feel free to correct me.

Please share if you found this thread useful - as we are all cooped up and stir-crazy this stuff gets hard to parse.

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