In the media world, there are media individuals, both fictional and real, who the audience relate with and cheer or jeer for their success or failure. It had come to a point where new media platforms, such as youtube, twitter, twitch among others that are pushing the boundaries of a parasocial relationship. We will examine recent research on parasocial interactions across media, from television, video games to youtube and social media. We will examine the psychological processes of parasocial interactions and discuss the implications of newer media. Furthermore, we will examine why do people call themselves a fan of some media program (e.g. television, film, music, sports & video games)? What do they get out of being in a group who share something they like in the media? We will explore the psychology of fandom and the affordances of online communication in promulgating fandoms of many media programs.
- Lehrende/r: Wai Yen Tang