Digitala Låtsasvänner : En studie om parasociala relationers födelse, utveckling och död

Sammanfattning: Social platforms are becoming an increasingly larger part of everyday life, with many people spending their days sharing information about their lives online. Youtube is a platform based on individual users “broadcasting themselves”, which often means sharing a lot of personal information. This can lead to a sense of closeness, and some viewers develop one-sided relationships through the screen. This study aims to give insight in these one-sided relationships, known as parasocial relationships. Interviews were conducted to get the perspective of Youtube fans as to what motivates them to start, continue and stop watching Youtubers. Using a qualitative research method we have been able to get a deeper understanding of possible patterns concerning the lifecycle of these relationships, such as how and why they begin, continue and end. As earlier research implies we found that parasocial relationships are created and treated in a similar way mutual relationships are. The finding of this study suggest that parasocial attachment is not only normal and common, but that they can provide a kind of social outlet for those who experience them. This study can hopefully be used to understand broader trends in media consumption online.