It’s helpful for explaining why, for example, when someone’s favorite weather person delivers the morning forecast, that viewer’s attitude is: “I trust this weatherman and what this weatherman is saying must be true,” says Rachel Kowert, PhD, an Ottawa, Canada–based research psychologist and the research director of Take This, a mental health advocacy organization with a focus on the digital gaming industry. “The viewer or the fan feels like they really know, relate, and have a sense of familiarity to the person they’re following.”
These days, parasocial relationships may seem especially intimate since it’s simple for famous people to engage with their followers on social media, but not necessarily in the deep, meaningful ways that we connect with our real-life friends and family.
“What’s unique is that it’s reciprocal now and that makes the lines even blurrier,” Dr. Kowert says.
“Increased exposure to real-life friends through screen media may blur the lines between the social and parasocial, increasing the value of parasocial relationships during social distancing,” the researchers of that study concluded.
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