It’s common for people to have an idol, a person they adore but don’t know. Celebrities are the most common idol examples, often with millions of adoring fans. These relationships between idols and their fans are called parasocial relationships. In the past parasocial relationships used to be less common, only really appearing in the most hardcore fans of idols, due to the internet, new and different types of idols have appeared and have made parasocial relationships easier to fall into and, by proxy, more harmful.

What are Parasocial Relationships?

Parasocial relationships are relationships between a fan and an idol. The fan often has an idealized view of the idol with high expectations for them and a large attachment to them. The idol doesn’t know the fan personally but knows that the fan has a large attachment to them as an idol. This can lead the idol to feel pressure to live up to the expectations of the fan and for the fan to feel betrayed if the idol fails to live up to those expectations. In the past the most common examples of parasocial relationships to be found were between celebrarities and their fans, this has since changed in recent years.

How Parasocial Relationships Have Changed

As stated before, in the past mst parasocial relationships were between a celebraity and their fans, but a new type of parasocial relationship has surfaced due to the internet, content creators and their fans. Due to social media platforms, average everyday people have managed to gain fame online by creating content. Because content creators were once average people and tend often to show off a more realistic personality to that of celebrities, fans tend to grow more attached to content creators. This is an issue as the fan now feels they know the content creator personally and holds certain expectations to them as a person, meaning that if that expectation is broken the fan tends to lash out. Lashing out from a fan often looks like making hate comments on the idol’s platforms or attacking others who support the idol. This is negative for both sides as the idol is being insulted and the fan feels betrayed. There are even some cases where idols take advantage of the parasocial relationship and use their fans, yet the fans often don’t notice that they’re being used as they’re too emotionally attached to the idol.

Avoiding Parasocial Relationships

Parasocial relationships tend to produce more negatives than positives, which lead to the question of how to avoid parasocial relationships? The answer is quite simple, always remember that when you see or intract with people through anyform of media, you don’t see them, but a version of themselves that they want you to see. This is because people naturally want to be liked by others, so they often put out their best attributes while hiding their flaws, especially online or when building a brand, meaning that you never get to truly know them unless you meet them in real life. Reminding yourself that your idols aren’t your friends, but strangers who don’t know you or owe you anything is the best way to avoid the negatives of parasocial relationships.

Conclusion

Parasocial relationships are the relationships between idols and fans, and can lead to toxicity between the two. It’s best to avoid getting attached to people who you don’t know personally, as you never know who they truly are. Don’t expect things from strangers, as you know nothing about them or who they are.

Written By: Jaelyn Diaz, Mental H2O Youth Resource Writer