Micro-celebrity extends para-social interaction from one-way media to direct networked response

Evidence

Regularly viewing the cast of a television show in your living room every week creates a feeling of intimacy and familiarity that communication scholars Horton and Wohl have called “para-social interaction.” These para-social relationships can be emotionally gratifying, to the point where people tune in to particular programs to check in with their “friends.” Micro-celebrity extends this idea to networked webs of direct interaction. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 281

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines para-social interaction (Horton and Wohl) and contrasts it with micro-celebrity’s two-way response.
• XREF: Connects to Celeste Langan’s ‘vanity of small differences’ and celebrity parasociality literature; also echoes the Milgrom work on reputation systems where direct interaction substitutes for one-shot fame. — connects to: Ascribed micro-celebrity is granted through media attention and audience distance — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 276; Micro-celebrity replaces the illusion of access with direct two-way fan interaction — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 279; Ongoing direct fan interaction is what sustains a micro-celebrity’s relatability and viewership — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 280 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Media audiences form one-sided intimate relationships with performers #qualifies (0.85) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 74