It's time to DTR! In this episode, I discuss my thoughts on a popular YouTuber who suddenly stopped posting on YouTube after perhaps a bad parasocial experience with her fans (and Amazon?). Are parasocial relationships bad? Are we in one, right now? I go through the pros and cons of parasocial relationships and hypothesize why some parasocial relationships sour in more extreme (and terrifying) ways than others, rooted in a theory of how the creator/influencer/whatever got their power in the first place--traditional bestowment or grassroots. I draw parallels between subscribing to someone and being a shareholder in a corporation--what can we learn about our relationship with online creators from corporate law, of all things? And finally, I answer the meta question--are we in a parasocial relationship?
[timestamps]
intro - 0:00
what is a parasocial relationship? - 2:21
parasocial relationships are normal/good - 4:44
drawing parallels from other settings - 8:09
the source of power/clout - 10:46
responsibility and ownership - 12:30
corporate law - 16:12
let's DTR - 19:12
[additional references]
Dream's face reveal https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2022/10/03/the-internet-had-a-cruel-response-to-dreams-face-reveal/
You can check out Cece's other projects at www.cecexie.com/links.
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are we in a parasocial relationship?