My ACCEPTABLE parasocial relationship

I’ve been holding off this post awhile because I didn’t want to admit it. I have a parasocial relationship with Wiz Khalifa. Well, at least I used too in high school.

            I used to talk with my friends about what he had done the night before at some concert or what he tweeted. I acted like I hung out with him backstage or on his tour bus. I felt like I was not only his biggest fan but also his best friend or a member of his posse.

            However, I feel having parasocial relationships are acceptable in this day and age. With Facebook, Twitter, the other social networks, and YouTube celebrities are using those outlets to create these relationships in the hopes of becoming famous.

            For example, many rap artist have a cameraman filming everything they do, the video is edited, and uploaded to YouTube in a timely manner. The video makes you feel as if you are there and the artist is just hanging out with you. It has been a successful and proven method to jump-start their career to stardom.

            Many rap magazines, such as XXL, write articles about their fans having such a strong bond with the artist and how they haven’t seen movements with fans like that of rappers of this generation. Each fan has a parasocial relationship with the artist. That may be a creepy thought; millions of people think they are best friends with one person whom they never met, but it’s what they intend to do, create this false relationship and profit. These relationships should be embraced, just not taken too far. We should appreciate these celebrities letting us get a personal, inside view. No generation before ours has had the opportunity to see people through this light. Therefore they should be remain acceptable to a certain degree.