The Pull of Parasocial Relationships

BY JULIA MCGINTY

You feel like you know them, like they could be your friend and no doubt about it. The only problem is, you’ve never met. Why do we feel this way towards big celebrities?

A parasocial relationship is one-sided and involves idolization by an extreme extension of effort. It takes a great deal of mental and even physical energy to devote the time to be a fan. This type of relationship is a one-way street, where the participants are audience-to-performer or audience-to-celebrity.

Engaging with a celebrity on a fan-level used to look more like buying a magazine and plastering the posters on bedroom walls or tuning in to catch their appearance on a talk show. Celebrities were glamorous, untouchable, a vision of what most can’t have. Now with TikTok, celebrities are more accessible than ever. Likewise, the average person can reach the entire user base of TikTok. This has never been possible on this scale before and has meshed influencer and celebrity. Sarah Erlichman, a PhD student at Penn State who studies parasocial relationships and media, believes that it is completely natural to form these relationships. Contrary to popular belief, forming a parasocial relationship can promote healthy attitudes, behaviors and coping mechanisms.

“It’s highly stigmatized,” Erlichman adds, saying that those who have celebrities as role models are viewed as obsessive and unimaginative. However, a parasocial relationship can be formed with someone a person does or doesn’t like.

It’s also in our nature to seek out environments where we feel our interests are supported since friendships are easier to form on common ground. Because most “regular” people are used to living life on social media, seeing this influx of celebrities puts them on that common ground. Authenticity and vulnerability are also factors that make someone worth looking up to. Emma Chamberlain for example, is a content creator who has been able to build a brand and following from relatability that has carried into her booming career. She continues to discuss her struggles with mental health even after her commercial success.

Those in the entertainment industry more used to conventional media scrutiny know they need to embrace personability, the “relatability” to appeal to the audiences who will support them. They need to show that a serious pursuit of the craft can co-exist with an earnest expression of passion. Only a few celebrities have been successful as so-called social pariahs, and even then, they need to draw lines.

The way people currently put themselves on the internet to make a platform and make connections mirrors the way college used to be talked about as a necessary step to get a job. Maintaining a platform is a tangible way of saying you have the numbers to further your career. Starting a career with social media can come from establishing a personality and content, or a very low-profile is kept on social media until you’re established somewhere else and can therefore keep up that persona or brand.

Forming parasocial relationships creates opportunities for outcasted communities to find ways to belong. People use these relationships to explore their identity in a society that can be unforgiving of unconventionality. Additionally, there has been a positive correlation with celebrities speaking out on their mental and physical health struggles and everyday people reaching out to find helpful services. The ties between media and parasocial relationships are more abundant than ever, and forming them can result in greater positive effects than they have historically been given credit for.