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Of course you do have a relationship with characters on a TV show you watch. You know them, you have feelings towards some of them, and they can influence your

Of course you do have a relationship with characters on a TV show you watch. You know them, you have feelings towards some of them, and they can influence your behavior

Retric 5y ago
Relationships are reciprocal, if you don’t influence the other party it’s not a relationship. Aka: A particular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other. I can have strong feelings about a cloud and it might change my life, but it doesn’t care.
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  Hum, yeah, if you want to use that word that way, it will mean that. Still, a lot of people share some culture due to their whatever ... well, if you took the word, you create some other one to fit here... they share with a celebrity. That makes those people related ... but well, I guess "related" is forbidden too... and capable of a different kind of empathy and communication. That phenomenon exists, whatever you decide to call it.
  - jasode 5y ago
    > they share with a celebrity. That makes those people related [...] That phenomenon exists, whatever you decide to call it. Some call it this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction A deep link to a Tom Scott video about it: https://youtu.be/leX541Dr2rU?t=33m40s https://youtu.be/leX541Dr2rU?t=33m40s What gp (Retric) was trying to say is that the terminology of "social relationships" found in the wiki article : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number ... is not talking about parasocial relationships. Yes "parasocial relationships" is a real phenomenon but that's not what Dunbar was referring to when correlating "# of maintained relationships" with the primate neocortex size in his research.
- aftbit 5y ago
  What about parasocial relationships? With game streamers, youtubers, onlyfans girls, etc? IMO these blur the lines between celebrity and friend. Viewer can often have deep relationships to their content creators. The content creators in turn have a shallow, multiplexed, but still meaningful relationship with their viewers.
  - Retric 5y ago
    The perception of a connection is valuable for everyone from senators to plumbers, but rarely is it a reciprocal and enduring connection. I think this is the same basic question as the degree to which a waiter or barista is having a relationship with their customers. Content creators may have strong individual connections to some viewers. However abstracting that to the audience as a whole is like suggesting you have a relationship with the miner who extracted some copper in whatever device you’re using right now. It’s can be meaningful to talk about such weak connections in contexts like economics, but individually most such connections don’t rise to the level of having an emotional response.
- anamax 5y ago
  What does "influence" mean? Elton John didn't know many of his fans in any meaningful sense, but their existence certainly influenced his life.
technofiend 5y ago
When people assume a relationship due to familiarity taken to an extreme you end up with dysfunction. Everything from walking to up celebrities and demanding a selfie to downright stalking.

Of course you do have a relationship with characters on a TV show you watch. You know them, you have feelings towards some of them, and they can influence your behavior

Retric 5y ago

Relationships are reciprocal, if you don’t influence the other party it’s not a relationship. Aka: A particular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other. I can have strong feelings about a cloud and it might change my life, but it doesn’t care.

marcosdumay 5y ago
Hum, yeah, if you want to use that word that way, it will mean that. Still, a lot of people share some culture due to their whatever ... well, if you took the word, you create some other one to fit here... they share with a celebrity. That makes those people related ... but well, I guess "related" is forbidden too... and capable of a different kind of empathy and communication. That phenomenon exists, whatever you decide to call it.
- jasode 5y ago
  > they share with a celebrity. That makes those people related [...] That phenomenon exists, whatever you decide to call it. Some call it this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction A deep link to a Tom Scott video about it: https://youtu.be/leX541Dr2rU?t=33m40s https://youtu.be/leX541Dr2rU?t=33m40s What gp (Retric) was trying to say is that the terminology of "social relationships" found in the wiki article : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number ... is not talking about parasocial relationships. Yes "parasocial relationships" is a real phenomenon but that's not what Dunbar was referring to when correlating "# of maintained relationships" with the primate neocortex size in his research.
aftbit 5y ago
What about parasocial relationships? With game streamers, youtubers, onlyfans girls, etc? IMO these blur the lines between celebrity and friend. Viewer can often have deep relationships to their content creators. The content creators in turn have a shallow, multiplexed, but still meaningful relationship with their viewers.
- Retric 5y ago
  The perception of a connection is valuable for everyone from senators to plumbers, but rarely is it a reciprocal and enduring connection. I think this is the same basic question as the degree to which a waiter or barista is having a relationship with their customers. Content creators may have strong individual connections to some viewers. However abstracting that to the audience as a whole is like suggesting you have a relationship with the miner who extracted some copper in whatever device you’re using right now. It’s can be meaningful to talk about such weak connections in contexts like economics, but individually most such connections don’t rise to the level of having an emotional response.
anamax 5y ago
What does "influence" mean? Elton John didn't know many of his fans in any meaningful sense, but their existence certainly influenced his life.

technofiend 5y ago

When people assume a relationship due to familiarity taken to an extreme you end up with dysfunction. Everything from walking to up celebrities and demanding a selfie to downright stalking.