"In the minutes, hours, and days that followed the announcement, news about the couple flooded in, including reactions from their friends like Selena Gomez and Patrick Mahomes, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump. Minutes after the bombshell, social media was filled with thousands of comments and reaction videos from fans celebrating the engagement as if it were their own sister who was getting married."
"The heartfelt congratulations from Swifties on the engagement, as if the artist had personally made them bridesmaids, is the very definition of parasocial. The Cambridge Dictionary has just named this term which describes the connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know its Word of the Year. According to the dictionary's editor-in-chief, Colin McIntosh, it captures the 2025 zeitgeist."
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram at 7 p.m. local time on August 26 via a post with comments closed. Friends and public figures including Selena Gomez, Patrick Mahomes, and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the news within minutes. Social media filled with thousands of celebratory comments and reaction videos from fans who responded as if the engagement were a personal event, while some users criticized such intense reactions. Cambridge Dictionary named "parasocial" Word of the Year, noting spikes in searches and its transition from an academic term to common social media usage.
Read at english.elpais.com
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