In the internet age, the term has become a buzzword used to describe various reactions to media events and celebrities.
Elizabeth Perse, a professor emeritus of communication at the University of Delaware, is an expert in mass media. And its impact on society.
Her work focuses on how individuals form relationships with media and the consequences of these relationships.
According to Perse, parasocial relationships are formed in a way that is similar to actual friendships, but they are not the same.
Perse said in a recent interview that “A parasocial relationship is a kind of pseudo-friendship that audiences have with media personas or personalities. I use the word ‘personality’ because what audiences see through the media certainly is not necessarily what the personality is in real life.”
Before social media, parasocial relationships were formed based on the amount of exposure someone had to a personality on their television screen. As with actual friendships, the more you interact with a person, the deeper your friendship (or parasocial relationship) grows.
