With access to your favorite celebrities’ inner thoughts and visual diaries or your favorite content creators at your fingertips, it’s easier than ever to cultivate a one-sided relationship with pop culture figures. But are parasocial relationships as toxic as the buzz term makes them seem?
The Helpful Professor/Dave Cornell
A brief description of the history of the term as well as a still relevant example from the 1960’s.
Celebrities have been a constant throughout the fluctuating trends of pop culture but the definition of celebrity is in near constant flux as content creation develops and changes.
Sixty years ago, the closest you could get to knowing a celebrity was through their on-screen roles or the occasional appearance on a late-night talk show.
Ten years ago, Youtube creators were considered celebrities, with some having a perceived importance greater than relevant celebrities of the time. Youtube creators feel inherently closer to their audience, making content specifically geared towards their projected demographics and making a living off of their own personality rather than a character.
Now TikTok allows the audience an even closer perceived relationship with their favorite creators. With most successful ‘TikTokers’ using their profile as an online diary to share their everyday routines, clips of their days and often too personal stories, the illusion of friendship is easier than ever to fall victim to.
Findapyschologist defines parasocialism as “one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other’s existence. Parasocial relationships are most common with celebrities, organizations (such as sports teams) or television stars.”
With the integration of social media apps into most people’s everyday lives, celebrities are closer to the public than ever before. Press tours, red carpet interviews and online content such as “Hot Ones” or “Chicken Shop Date” feature a more approachable host and allow for a more personable conversation.
With these so readily available, it’s no wonder why the general public is more invested in celebrity lives than ever before. Beyond these interviews, celebrity presence on social media provides their audience an increasingly closer look into their personal lives, as well as giving the illusion that that celebrity may see your interactions on their posts.
Some celebrities have commented on this lack of boundaries between their fans, while others embrace it, either as a way to improve their social standing or purely as a show of good faith towards their fans.
Beyond the traditional definition of celebrities, parasocial relationships are most noticeable among influencers and their followers, primarily on TikTok. With all of the content coming directly from the creator without outside influence, it cultivates a more personal connection with the viewer.
TikTok comments are loaded with user’s proclaiming their perception of the relationship they share with the creator. Whether or not a creator welcomes this can potentially fracture or strengthen the relationship they share with their fanbase.
Parasocialism was once categorized as a symptom of loneliness but as research developed, some cases saw parasocial relationships to actually strengthen one’s social skills and connections, as well as boosting one’s self-esteem.
The term ‘parasocial’ has exploded in popularity and general usage over the last few years, as online users seek to find an insult or an explanation for someone’s seemingly over attachment to actors, characters, or online content creators.
However, the concept of parasocial relationships has existed for a long time, with some of the best examples coming from daytime talk shows. Studies found that the elderly or terminally ill received a certain level of comfort from consistently seeing their favorite talk show host at a set time of the day.
The “Oprah Show” ran for twenty-nine seasons and remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in the history of American television. Oprah’s television personality relied on her interactions with her audience, both in-studio and at-home viewers.
By cultivating a relationship with her viewers through their television screens, Oprah became a public figure that many people viewed as their friend rather than just a TV personality.
Talk show hosts are potentially the most lasting example of parasocial relationships, before the idea became such a buzz term across social media platforms.
The same can be said for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (prior to the controversy surrounding Ellen), “The Drew Barrymore Show” or could even be applied to late night hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, or Seth Meyers, all of whom profit from audiences believing the deliberately authentic feel of the show.
One of the more destructive aspects of parasocial relationships is the potential gratification a celebrity gains from it. Creators who encourage a parasocial relationship with their viewers can potentially cultivate a fanbase that is overly invested in their personal lives, overstep boundaries, and blindly defend the creators through controversies.
Youtube/Colleen Ballinger
Even after her epic failure of an apology, fans continued to blindly support her as a result of the parasocial attachments she’d cultivated over the years.
Colleen Ballinger, Youtube creator who initially gained popularity for her character Miranda Sings and then transitioned her channel to contain primarily lifestyle vlogs that often involved her children, is one of the best examples of what someone can gain from a parasocial relationship with an audience.
As her channel continued this shift towards more personal content, her viewers and her own life became closely intertwined. Viewer comments often influenced the trajectory of her content and her videos in turn influenced the actions of her viewers in their personal lives.
As we’ve seen with most popular online creators, Ballinger found herself in controversy surrounding past content, fan engagement and the ethics of featuring your children in your online content.
Despite multiple clips surfacing that show her inappropriate behavior, her audience, with her silent permission, attacked the people speaking out about their experiences and continued to support Ballinger’s content.
Feeling a connection to an online creator or celebrity is not inherently harmful but in certain cases can negatively impact the lives of both creators and the viewers. Celebrities will always be a part of pop culture but knowing the distinction between a perceived connection and a carefully calculated performance is more important than ever.