Parasocial Relationships

Recently, Parks and Recreation has been an obsession of mine. Tom Haverford is a character that works at City Hall, played by Aziz Ansari. Tom’s life philosophies resemble mine in certain ways. Obviously he’s dimwitted and goofy but maybe that’s why I like him. An afternoon with Aziz is sure to put a smile on your face and personally I enjoy laughing, it’s good for you, right? My relationship with Aziz is one-sided but in many ways that’s a good thing. For instance, I’ve watched his stand up routines after falling for him in Parks and Rec and ever since he’s been my little pick me up. So I guess the root of my obsession comes from my state of mind. He helps me with state management, which is a great tool to stay productive.

A healthy parasocial relationship can help people cope with little struggles. I find nothing wrong with fan-girling over A-listers as long as you enjoy them in moderation. The article we read about Twilight fans having difficulties separating fiction from nonfiction is an example of an unhealthy parasocial relationship and sadly people won’t change. Aziz and I will probably never chat about life over a pitcher of beer (but I wish) and I keep that in mind when sustaining my relationship with him. I keep it on the surface and try not to develop any further feelings for him or the way he makes me feel. Aziz is not the only one, I am an avid YouTuber and I share plenty of parasocial relationships with my subscriptions. And as weird as it may sound, I know my viewers have parasocial relationships with me because I can tell by their comments and suggestions online. It’s as if people know me through my videos because I share personal information with them. So I suppose its expected, just as Aziz expects people to connect with him and his comedy. 

Check out my YouTube channel if you're interested: MarkE Miller