parasocial

English

Etymology

From para- +‎ social, coined by American sociologist Richard Wohl and Donald Horton in 1956.

Adjective

parasocial (not comparable)

1. One-sided (especially of a relationship, as for example that between a celebrity and their audience or fans, whom they do not know).

   a parasocial relationship

   • [2006, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, editor, Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media, SAGE Publications, →ISBN:

     Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl coined the term parasocial interaction in 1956 to describe the imaginary interactions between the audience and TV variety show hosts, noting the “seeming face-to-face relationship” that viewers developed […]]

   • 2016, Molly Marshall, AQA Psychology Student Guide 3: Issues and debates in psychology, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     In the past, parasocial relationships occurred predominantly with television or film celebrities, but now these […] celebrities openly share their opinions and activities through various social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

   • 2022 February 13, Otegha Uwagba, “Too close for comfort: the pitfalls of parasocial relationships”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     And yet for every creator for whom parasocial relationships are an unintended byproduct of their work, there are many more – influencers, YouTubers, vloggers – who actively cultivate that faux-intimacy with their followers, softening them up so that they might more easily ply their wares, be that waist trainers or make-up brushes.

   • 2023 May 11, Maggie Harrison, “Influencer Creates AI Version of Herself That You Can Rent as a Girlfriend”, in Futurism‎^[2]:

     With the advent of AI chatbots, the ethics of parasocial relationships just keep getting murkier. Introducing: CarynAI, a voice-based chatbot that was trained to mimic a human influencer to become your artificial girlfriend.

Related terms

• parasociality
• parasocially

Further reading

• parasocial interaction on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• sociality § Parasociality on Wikipedia.Wikipedia