3 ms·

What do you mean by "human connection"?

by cess11 7mo ago

steve_adams_86 7mo ago
It appears a lot of people using OF are using it as a parasocial medium, not strictly for porn. They want to believe they're actually in touch with the performer and part of their lives to some degree.
- cess11 7mo ago
  What does "para-" mean? Edit: Right, 'beside', 'outside', like in paranormal. Now, are parasocial relationships "human connection"?
  - jihadjihad 7mo ago
    para- has a variety of meanings [0] depending on which word it’s used to form. Parasocial itself means “one-sided” in a relationship [1]. 0: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/para-#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/para-#English 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parasocial https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parasocial
  - jfengel 7mo ago
    It means that it shares some, but not all, aspects of a social relationship. It's often applied to one-sided relationships with celebrities, where you feel a personal connection to them but they literally don't know you exist.
    - cess11 7mo ago
      Social relationship is much broader than human connection. If I fall in love with Harry Potter, is that a human connection?
      - jfengel 7mo ago
        The term "parasocial relationship" is usually reserved for actual people. You could stretch it to include fictional characters, but it misses out on some of the reasons we coined the term. For example, you can't stalk Harry Potter. There are surely people stalking JK Rowling, and that is a better example of a parasocial relationship. Not all parasocial relationships are pathological. It's just a useful extreme to illustrated why the distinction exists.
  - alwa 7mo ago
    “Para-“ tends to mean “around” or “beside,” kind of in the sense of “close to" or "almost”--paraprofessional teachers or lawyers, paramilitary groups, parallel lines, parasitic symbiotes. In this specific context, American sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl (1956) [0] coined the notion of “para-social" relations, in order to describe audience members’ intensifying, one-sided sensations-of-relationships with media characters as American-style mass media came into its own: > The most remote and illustrious men are met as if they were in the circle of one's peers; the same is true of a character in a story who comes to life in these media in an especially vivid and arresting way. We propose to call this seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer a para-social relationship. They contrast para-social relations with face-to-face ones, which they call ortho-social: > The crucial difference in experience obviously lies in the lack of effective reciprocity [...] To be sure, the audience is free to choose among the relationships offered, but it cannot create new ones. Whoever finds the experience unsatisfying has only the option to withdraw. > ...the media present opportunities for the playing of roles to which the spectator has–or feels he has–a legitimate claim, but for which he finds no opportunity in his social environment. This function of the para-social then can properly be called compensatory, inasmuch as it provides the socially and psychologically isolated with a chance to enjoy the elixir of sociability. It's a brisk accessible read, and spookily still relevant. Thanks for the impetus to dust it off :) Anyway—in the 2010s, social scientists began to use the idea to think about the emerging class of even-more-intimate, confessional celebrities—like the Kardashians—as those celebrities started to use the socials ‘round the clock and to broadcast seemingly intimate, unguarded moments [1]. “Healthy” doesn’t seem to be the word the researchers and clinicians tend to choose... [0] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00332747.1956.11... [1] e.g. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/7/ https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/7/
  - steve_adams_86 7mo ago
    > Now, are parasocial relationships "human connection"? No, they are a proxy people attempt to use as a substitute for more genuine, two-sided relationships. It's quite common. I think lonely people are most susceptible to it, though.
- hackyhacky 7mo ago
  Yes, and it's sad. I wish someone would create a business that profits from people forming actual connections with each other, but every opportunity has been displaced. Dating sites replaces meeting IRL, and foster superficial relationships anyway. Bars are passé. Social clubs, golf clubs, etc, seem to belong to a past generation. Social media killed the social part. The damage to society is real.
  - ndriscoll 7mo ago
    There is one: universities. They're just really expensive so you can't stay there for more than a few years, and people aren't properly advised of how important the opportunity is.
  - prepend 7mo ago
    Meetup is kind of like that. I use it for ongoing hiking clubs and book clubs and movie clubs. Comically, Facebook sort of serves this way as well by brining together hiking clubs and d&d groups.
  - asdff 7mo ago
    Every time someone says something like this, I can think of examples of every point just from the limited scope of my own life to the contrary, which from the frequency it happens I'm guessing indicates my experience isn't so unique and the world isn't this doom and gloom black and white world as described on the internet. People still meet serendipitously. People still go out. The golf club at my municipal course still throws out several tournaments a year with enough demand for like four each mens and womens handicap flights. Maybe the people alleging these things have to look inwardly and ask why they aren't themselves doing these things that can still be done today.
    - TheOtherHobbes 7mo ago
      Golf clubs are super niche and self-selecting. There are almost no spaces left which are easily discoverable by "analog" means without relying at all on social media. The UK used to have a very strong pub and club culture. That's been collapsing for most of this century - some of it helped by government legislation. This hasn't changed direction recently. https://www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/graph-of-the-day-how-couples-meet https://www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/graph-of-the-day-how-...

What do you mean by "human connection"?

by cess11 7mo ago

What do you mean by "human connection"?

It appears a lot of people using OF are using it as a parasocial medium, not strictly for porn. They want to believe they're actually in touch with the performer and part of their lives to some degree.

cess11 7mo ago
What does "para-" mean? Edit: Right, 'beside', 'outside', like in paranormal. Now, are parasocial relationships "human connection"?
- jihadjihad 7mo ago
  para- has a variety of meanings [0] depending on which word it’s used to form. Parasocial itself means “one-sided” in a relationship [1]. 0: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/para-#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/para-#English 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parasocial https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parasocial
- jfengel 7mo ago
  It means that it shares some, but not all, aspects of a social relationship. It's often applied to one-sided relationships with celebrities, where you feel a personal connection to them but they literally don't know you exist.
  - cess11 7mo ago
    Social relationship is much broader than human connection. If I fall in love with Harry Potter, is that a human connection?
    - jfengel 7mo ago
      The term "parasocial relationship" is usually reserved for actual people. You could stretch it to include fictional characters, but it misses out on some of the reasons we coined the term. For example, you can't stalk Harry Potter. There are surely people stalking JK Rowling, and that is a better example of a parasocial relationship. Not all parasocial relationships are pathological. It's just a useful extreme to illustrated why the distinction exists.
- alwa 7mo ago
  “Para-“ tends to mean “around” or “beside,” kind of in the sense of “close to" or "almost”--paraprofessional teachers or lawyers, paramilitary groups, parallel lines, parasitic symbiotes. In this specific context, American sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl (1956) [0] coined the notion of “para-social" relations, in order to describe audience members’ intensifying, one-sided sensations-of-relationships with media characters as American-style mass media came into its own: > The most remote and illustrious men are met as if they were in the circle of one's peers; the same is true of a character in a story who comes to life in these media in an especially vivid and arresting way. We propose to call this seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer a para-social relationship. They contrast para-social relations with face-to-face ones, which they call ortho-social: > The crucial difference in experience obviously lies in the lack of effective reciprocity [...] To be sure, the audience is free to choose among the relationships offered, but it cannot create new ones. Whoever finds the experience unsatisfying has only the option to withdraw. > ...the media present opportunities for the playing of roles to which the spectator has–or feels he has–a legitimate claim, but for which he finds no opportunity in his social environment. This function of the para-social then can properly be called compensatory, inasmuch as it provides the socially and psychologically isolated with a chance to enjoy the elixir of sociability. It's a brisk accessible read, and spookily still relevant. Thanks for the impetus to dust it off :) Anyway—in the 2010s, social scientists began to use the idea to think about the emerging class of even-more-intimate, confessional celebrities—like the Kardashians—as those celebrities started to use the socials ‘round the clock and to broadcast seemingly intimate, unguarded moments [1]. “Healthy” doesn’t seem to be the word the researchers and clinicians tend to choose... [0] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00332747.1956.11... [1] e.g. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/7/ https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/7/
- steve_adams_86 7mo ago
  > Now, are parasocial relationships "human connection"? No, they are a proxy people attempt to use as a substitute for more genuine, two-sided relationships. It's quite common. I think lonely people are most susceptible to it, though.
hackyhacky 7mo ago
Yes, and it's sad. I wish someone would create a business that profits from people forming actual connections with each other, but every opportunity has been displaced. Dating sites replaces meeting IRL, and foster superficial relationships anyway. Bars are passé. Social clubs, golf clubs, etc, seem to belong to a past generation. Social media killed the social part. The damage to society is real.
- ndriscoll 7mo ago
  There is one: universities. They're just really expensive so you can't stay there for more than a few years, and people aren't properly advised of how important the opportunity is.
- prepend 7mo ago
  Meetup is kind of like that. I use it for ongoing hiking clubs and book clubs and movie clubs. Comically, Facebook sort of serves this way as well by brining together hiking clubs and d&d groups.
- asdff 7mo ago
  Every time someone says something like this, I can think of examples of every point just from the limited scope of my own life to the contrary, which from the frequency it happens I'm guessing indicates my experience isn't so unique and the world isn't this doom and gloom black and white world as described on the internet. People still meet serendipitously. People still go out. The golf club at my municipal course still throws out several tournaments a year with enough demand for like four each mens and womens handicap flights. Maybe the people alleging these things have to look inwardly and ask why they aren't themselves doing these things that can still be done today.
  - TheOtherHobbes 7mo ago
    Golf clubs are super niche and self-selecting. There are almost no spaces left which are easily discoverable by "analog" means without relying at all on social media. The UK used to have a very strong pub and club culture. That's been collapsing for most of this century - some of it helped by government legislation. This hasn't changed direction recently. https://www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/graph-of-the-day-how-couples-meet https://www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/graph-of-the-day-how-...