Somehow I stumbled upon being friends with the CEO of a construction company who is twice my age. We get coffee together regularly on the weekends. I tell him about what I worked on that week, and he either gives me approbation, or withholds praise, depending on if he thinks I spent my time wisely. In this way, I get feedback from a person IRL.
With parasocial relationships, it’s entirely one-sided. We give online personas our tacit approval by repeatedly consuming their content; they sit back and watch their view counts go up and receive implicit validation. We, in turn, receive the semblance of a friendship but with none of the reciprocal validation that humans thrive on to determine if our actions are worthwhile.
Solution? Continue to seek out new friendships IRL and tap into their networks.
Somehow I stumbled upon being friends with the CEO of a construction company who is twice my age. We get coffee together regularly on the weekends. I tell him about what I worked on that week, and he either gives me approbation, or withholds praise, depending on if he thinks I spent my time wisely. In this way, I get feedback from a person IRL.
With parasocial relationships, it’s entirely one-sided. We give online personas our tacit approval by repeatedly consuming their content; they sit back and watch their view counts go up and receive implicit validation. We, in turn, receive the semblance of a friendship but with none of the reciprocal validation that humans thrive on to determine if our actions are worthwhile.
Solution? Continue to seek out new friendships IRL and tap into their networks.