Over the course of six years running a weekly newsletter for freelancers, I've read everything from confessions, complaints, and demands, to life stories; grievances of all kinds really; and expressions of support and appreciation.
On one hand, what newsletter creator wouldn't want their work to resonate with their audience so much that it drives them to reach out? On the other, how does a creator navigate the responsibilities and expectations of a parasocial relationship that formed without their buy-in?
'If someone takes the time to cross the digital void, the least I can do is respond,' Ryan Broderick, the creator of Garbage Day, a newsletter devoted to web culture and technology with over 70,000 subscribers, told me.
Once maligned as teenybopper, kiss-your-Elvis-photo-goodnight foolishness, parasocial relationships have gained credibility as a valid psychological phenomenon.
#parasocial-relationships #newsletters #creator-subscriber-dynamics #responsibilities #psychological-phenomenon
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]