Parasocial Relationships

feeling a bond with someone you don’t know in media or online, like a celebrity, tiktok creator, other creators, author, or even an AI

Mass Communication and Parasocial Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance

Horton and Wohl introduced the concept of parasocial interaction, describing the one‑sided relationships audiences form with media figures that feel like real interpersonal bonds despite a lack of reciprocal communication. They argue that mass media—especially radio and television—creates an illusion of intimacy that encourages audiences to respond emotionally and socially as if the mediated persona were personally known.

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The Psychology of the Internet

Patricia Wallace’s The Psychology of the Internet provides a comprehensive research‑based overview of how online environments shape human behavior, emotions, and social interaction across contexts such as impression formation, group dynamics, aggression, attraction, altruism, privacy, gaming, development, and gender. The book integrates classic and contemporary psychological research to explain why people behave differently online and how those behaviors both reflect and inform social life on the Internet.

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