Parasocial Relationships Help Us Learn About Others and Ourselves
Our one-sided connections with celebrities and social media influencers can have surprising benefits
I forget the year, but Facebook was only starting to catch up to Myspace, YouTube was shiny new, and I had just started blogging. Sometime around here, my friends and I watched one of Ryan Leslie’s videos — probably this one, with him playing all the instruments he needed to make a song. He had produced the classic, and incredibly catchy, “Me & You” single with Cassie. He had a presence in the mainstream and social media. My friends and I loved hip-hop, so while we didn’t know the term parasocial relationship yet, we followed Ryan the same way we followed 50 Cent.
Years later, Ryan created a membership club to connect directly with his fans. I had applied for an internship with his company. I bought an early access pass to his documentary and found a comment in a product receipt I bought from him: “Got your email about the extended social engagement. As you can see — I’m already…
