Following Your "Friend": Social Media and the Strength of Adolescents' Parasocial Relationships with Media Personae

Social media have permeated the lives of adolescents and may be altering the way that teens engage with their favorite media celebrities and characters. This study surveyed 316 adolescents to examine the relationship between social media surveillance and the strength of adolescents' parasocial relationships (PSRs) with media personae they follow on social media. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between exposure to media personae on Twitter and strength of PSRs. Adolescents who had experienced social interactions with their favorite media personae on Twitter in the form of retweets or responses to tweets had stronger PSRs than adolescents who had no such interactions. The realism of the media personae did not moderate findings as expected. The findings suggest that Twitter provides intimate glimpses into the personal lives of media personae that increase audiences' feelings of connectedness to those celebrities and characters, an important finding given that teens are more likely to learn from media personae with whom they have PSRs.