Skip to content
Apply
Stories

Taylor Swift is not your BFF. What are parasocial relationships, and are they healthy for us?

People in this story

Taylor Swift taking selfies with fans.

Fans have a lot of ways of showing love for their favorite singers, movie stars or influencers. They might change their profile picture to an image of that person’s face, sing along to every lyric at a concert or hang a poster of that person on their wall. Or they might stalk someone or throw their phone at a singer’s head.

At a certain point, fandom can go beyond enjoying someone’s work and become what is called a parasocial relationship. But what exactly are parasocial relationships? Are they truly dangerous or just a part of 21st-century pop culture? “There’s a sense where it’s not even really accurate to call them relationships,” says Vance Ricks, an associate teaching professor of philosophy and computer science at Northeastern University. 

Ricks, who has researched online friendships and relationships, likens parasocial relationships to the kind of relationship a child might have with an imaginary friend. If a Swiftie starts to form an emotional attachment to Taylor Swift –– and even thinks of her as a close friend –– that’s a parasocial relationship. It’s a relationship based on a projected version of another person, not any real interaction with the person themselves.

Continue reading at Northeastern Global News.

More Stories

Denise Garcia’s, book, The AI Military Race, on Nov. 30, 2023.

Military AI: New book anticipates a world of “killer robots”—and the need to regulate them

12.04.2023
Northeastern postdoctoral teaching associate in english Catherine Fairfield poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.

A Swiftie’s “Wildest Dreams” come true: Northeastern is offering a course on Taylor Swift

11.30.2023
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor hold up a copy of the U.S. constitution that she carries with her Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005 at an open-air Immigration and Naturalization citizenship hearing in Gilbert, Ariz.

Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, remembered as “independent thinker” who often disappointed conservatives

12.04.23
Northeastern Global News