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How Online Parasocial Dynamics Impact Marginalized Creators

Marginalized people with platforms face harsher expectations and worse criticism when it comes to parasocial dynamics online.  CW/TW: Discussion of white supremacy, queerphobia, social exploitation of marginalized people By Shaanth Nanguneri  In every Tiktok, Youtube video, and Tweet we consume, our parasocial relationships with content creators are evolving. The idea of a parasocial relationship in...

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A Parasocial Love Story: Where the Intimate and the Performative Collide

As socialization increasingly shifts online, we are likely to form more (and more intense) parasocial bonds and see a blurring of the boundaries between the real and the parasocial.  By Sohel Sarkar In 1893, when Arthur Conan Doyle shoved his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes off a cliff, fans went into public mourning, forcing the author...

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Managing Friendships In A Global Pandemic

There are four key ingredients to building and maintaining successful friendships: investment, emotional closeness, trust, and support. By ​​Dr. Marcus C. Shepard After a year-and-a-half of battling Zoom fatigue, isolation, and a host of mental strains, it should come as no surprise that some of our friendships have taken a backseat as we try to...