Get you a paragraph that can be targeted by the html for special styling and slip it in on the second edit when you realise the text is all over the place because you forgot first time. This is that paragraph.
It’s almost definitely a short one this week. I’ve been chin-stroking more on this question of the diegetics of Covid-19 and while was listening to this BBC podcast on delusions I came across the idea of parasocial relationships. This is the feeling that you have a social relationship with characters from TV, radio or other media. The notion has been extended in recent years to include celebrities and then social media personalities. In fact, social media lend themselves particularly to parasocial relationships because they encourage perceptions of intimacy that aren’t real or authentic to increase engagement. Parasocial relationships came up in the context of delusions for their relationship with paranoid delusions of being watched or followed, particularly the spate of these delusions that have been informed by reality television.
Now interestingly, the podcast was quick to point out that firstly, almost everyone engages in some form of delusion and it’s only rarely that they become harmful or debilitating: Delusions of grandeur can help us with confidence and self-esteem while paranoid delusions can make us cautious and prevent potential social harm. Parasocial relationships are particularly important to children where they contribute to identity formation and learning, for example.
Of course parasocial relationships have been seized upon by marketing and PR whizzes as a way of hawking stuff through podcasts, vlogs and particularly social media personalities and there’s ongoing study about the long-term effects of this barrage of attention-seeking para-friendships on individuals, particularly when in isolation as many are right now.
Anyway, there’s more to this I feel. Like speculative parasocial relationships where the foundation of that relationship is impossible. Think Roger Rabbit (or the dark, adult alternative, Cool World) or Hatsune Miku.
Short Stuff
Told you it’d be brief this week. I’m really behind with other things, I have some marking to do, a lecture series to write a website to build and then all the admin stuff that comes with this job.
- I got a GoPro for Christmas and have been (on the rare occasions where I’m going out), experimenting with it. It’s not as easy to use as they make it seem. You can get passable footage quite quickly but to get something HD film-worthy is hard. I’ve been trying out a bunch of different mounts. This one from the weekend I used a grill mount (you bite on it) which seems to work better since the head is a natural gimbal. There’s also a problem with brightness flickering which I read can be solved by using faster HD cards so I’m going to try that when I next go out, probably hill climbing on Friday.
- Benque on his almanacs.
- Best explanation of Gamestop I saw.
Sorry, I have a bunch of open tabs for things to read and tell you about but I’m just swamped atm. There’s also a bunch of your names in reminders up there ↗ because I owe you emails or whatever. Love you and speak next week.