How to Know What's Real: How to Know Who’s Real

Social media has made it easier to build more parasocial relationships with celebrities and influencers. What impact are those connections having on our relationships IRL? And how do they shift our understanding and expectations of intimacy and trust? Florida State University assistant professor Arienne Ferchaud defines parasocial relationships and discusses how new technologies are changing the role of entertainment in our lives. Music by Forever Sunset (“Spring Dance”), baegel (“Cyber Wham”), Etienne Roussel (“Twilight”), Dip Diet (“Sidelined”), Ben Elson (“Darkwave”), and Rob Smierciak (“Whistle”). Write to us at howtopodcast@theatlantic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to How to Know What's Real: How to Know Who’s Real online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

How to Know What's Real: How to Know Who’s Real is an episode from How to Start Over by The Atlantic Monthly Group, LLC.

This episode is 28:35 long.

This episode was published on May 13, 2024.

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