“Following” Your “Friend”: The Relationship Between Social Media and Adolescents’ Parasocial Relationships

• In Event: The Role of Social Media in Adolescent Identity and Relationship Development

Abstract

In the media-saturated world that adolescents live in, they are not only likely to develop friendships with real-life others, but also with media characters. The emotionally-tinged, one-sided relationships people develop with media characters are called parasocial relationships. Parasocial relationships have traditionally been studied with television characters. Social media, however, afford teens increased frequency and deeper intimacy in their parasocial interactions, thereby influencing parasocial relationships. This presentation will report the results of a survey of American adolescents (N = 624). Results suggest teens following their favorite media characters on social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) have significantly stronger parasocial relationships than those who do not use social media. Adolescents are also more likely to report the desire to learn from media characters if they follow them on social media. The presentation will conclude by detailing implications of social media use on our understanding of teens’ parasocial relationships.

Author

• Bradley J Bond, University of San Diego