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As social networking sites skyrocketed, especially among the teenage demographic, parasocial interactions with celebrities have risen in tandem. Past research has not specifically focused on the ramifications of social media in early childhood development. Using a mixed method phenomenological design, results indicated that feelings of parental rejection at a young age caused teenagers to feel higher anxiety in social situations (r = .89, p < .011). These socially anxious teenagers in turn reacted more intensely when their favorite celebrity underwent negative experiences and shared them on social media (r = .89, p < 0.05). Additionally, a strong statistical correlation was found (r = .92, p < .001) between checking celebrity social media accounts and believing a celebrity would correspondingly like their fan. Findings reveal that parasocial relationships are ultimately unhealthy, and make it difficult for individuals to distinguish between genuine and one-sided, non-reciprocal relationships. Understanding these relationships is crucial in helping teenagers re-evaluate how they perceive and distinguish in-person interactions as opposed to artificial, virtual relationships. Based on these findings, future researchers should study cases of intense social media fan behavior and explore how to wean teenagers from superficial celebrity obsessions with alternative coping mechanisms (i.e. therapy pets, journaling, meditation, etc.).
Anvi Jana (Wed,) studied this question.