It's time to DTR! In this episode, I discuss my thoughts on a popular YouTuber who suddenly stopped posting on YouTube after perhaps a bad parasocial experience with her fans (and Amazon?). Are parasocial relationships bad? Are we in one, right now? I go through the pros and cons of parasocial relationships and hypothesize why some parasocial relationships sour in more extreme (and terrifying) ways than others, rooted in a theory of how the creator/influencer/whatever got their power in the first place--traditional bestowment or grassroots. I draw parallels between subscribing to someone and being a shareholder in a corporation--what can we learn about our relationship with online creators from corporate law, of all things? And finally, I answer the meta question--are we in a parasocial relationship?

[timestamps]

intro - 0:00

what is a parasocial relationship? - 2:21

parasocial relationships are normal/good - 4:44

drawing parallels from other settings - 8:09

the source of power/clout - 10:46

responsibility and ownership - 12:30

corporate law - 16:12

let's DTR - 19:12

[additional references]

Dream's face reveal https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2022/10/03/the-internet-had-a-cruel-response-to-dreams-face-reveal/

You can check out Cece's other projects at www.cecexie.com/links.

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