While mass media like radio, movies, and television can all feed into parasocial relationships, the Internet and smartphone revolutions have supercharged the opportunities we all have to feel like an online stranger is a close, personal confidante. From YouTube and podcast personalities to Instagram influencers or even your favorite blogger/journalist (hi), it’s easy to feel like you have a close …
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How parasocial relationships triggered the Taylor Swift engagement freak outs
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement last week, and the betrothal caused a swirl of fan reactions. Most fans were supportive but a small minority were problematic. A section of “Swifties” full heartedly believed (and still believe) that Taylor and Travis’s relationship was a manufactured PR romance. Hayley Williams also recently released an album, with a closing track …
Read More »Emily Ratajkowski on ‘Too Much’ and Parasocial Relationships
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Too Much.” Emily Ratajkowski has returned to acting after making headlines in 2023 for firing her team and leaving the business. At the time, she lamented the feeling of making herself “digestible to powerful men in Hollywood,” so it’s no surprise that her first new project is not only created by a woman, …
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