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iller_mitch t1_iy81qnw wrote

>suggesting that the practice might help fulfill basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Makes sense. Particularly for long running podcasts where you grow fond of the hosts. But parasocialization isn't without its risks.

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d_r0ck t1_iy87t36 wrote

This would probably also have the same effect by watching twitch streamers - or maybe even more so since you can interact with them.

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DingusHanglebort t1_iy92bq7 wrote

Absolutely, and there we witness the pitfalls of facsimile connectedness.

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MocoMojo t1_iy82wtc wrote

Agree. I wonder if an analogy would be masturbation. It fulfills a biological urge (orgasm vs. need to belong), but long term you are deprived of a more meaningful two-way relationship where there is some give and take.

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iller_mitch t1_iy83geq wrote

I wonder what the results would suggest if they instead polled only onlyfans subscribers.

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reddituser567853 t1_iy8jbks wrote

I don't think ejaculation is biology's way of getting you to belong.

Im pretty sure biology wants you to make some babies

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crimsontape t1_iy96ab2 wrote

Actually, there's a great deal of evidence for human sexuality being very much tied into our social habits, and our propensity for orgasms has a lot of social utility and feedback loops. That's why it's nice to feel sexy and know it, man or woman. And, if you look at men and women, and how they select a partner and extra-partner (be it cheating or some arrangement), across the timelines of 20-30, 30-40, 40+, the sexual nature of attraction changes profoundly, as do the feedback loops. And we seem to make a big deal out of trying to find a "best of both worlds - competent, sexy, sexily competent, and competently sexy". Our propensity for an orgasm plays implicit roles in our partner selection as well as explicit roles in our ability to sustain medium to long term intimate partners. For most people, if you cut that off at "cumming for babies" well, phew, that's a bit utilitarian, and definitely not sexy. And, like I said, for some reasons obvious and not-so-obvious, we like to feel sexy.

We're not voles and not praying manti, either. Our semen doesn't turn into a cement, and females don't eat the heads of their mates. Our closest cousins, the Bonobo, has more in common with us than most are comfortable with. Look up Bonobos and tell me you don't see "Uncle Bob" somewhere in the photos; and then look for their sexual habits. Not all primates are like this - it's very unique behaviour in the grand scheme of species.

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reddituser567853 t1_iy9qygr wrote

Feeling sexy is a status thing, for mate selection. Ejaculation can be tied to bonding, more so for women, and that's for the purpose of offspring investment with a mate, not society at large

Bonobos are not our closest, chimps are.

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foxwaffles t1_iy902w0 wrote

Yep, parasocial relationships is what drives the entire Kpop machine. It's really sad to me to see so many young people talk about their idols as if they're personal friends or even kids they feel protective of. It's an industry built to make obscene amounts of money for the fat cats at the top who call the shots and work the idols half to death. The exploding streamer culture in China is built on this too with new agencies popping up to recruit young girls to suck money out of lonely, overworked young men

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BadAtExisting t1_iy9vics wrote

I work in TV and film. Trust me when I say this is more of the same celebrity culture. It’s amazing the lengths we need to go with security sometimes just to shoot scenes on location with certain actors. People think they have some sort of connection and/or relationship with a character they played. Or, more frighteningly, after watching every PR press junket interview these actors do, they somehow think they know the actor deeply personally. The online battles that’s drama kicked up by fans of different actors can be funny. Particularly when you’re standing there on set and Twitter is all a flutter about some dumb between actor drama not at all happening on set. (Sometimes actors don’t like each other and they get their chairs physically separated, though that usually means some other actor there for the day or week’s chair is between them, nothing ground shaking, just treating them like the overgrown toddlers they can become.) All the manufactured online drama can be a distraction, but most of these people have their team (assistant, manager, PR) managing their social media for them and they never see the mess surrounding them. Some actors are more personally active than others, but when we’re all on set 12+ hours a day they have better things to do than be on social media. People really need to put the devices down and get out into the world and cultivate real world relationships

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EasterBunnyArt t1_iy8rha4 wrote

Add lets plays as well (at least for me).

There are a lot of games I have no interest or skill in playing but I love the lore and stories. I also love listening to stuff when I paint so it makes painting less quiet.

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Jonsj t1_iy8hmfb wrote

Similar to twitch streamers, where people form very unhealthy one sided relationship with the host of the stream.

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Moont1de t1_iy86b9s wrote

It's a coping mechanism as any other

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iller_mitch t1_iy8iqdw wrote

I'll be guilty to admit I leaned heavily into podcasts during the pandemic.

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ADPXEROX t1_iybro8i wrote

#BABA BOOEY BABA BOOEY HOWARD STERN’s PENIS

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Smtxom t1_iyakvz9 wrote

If I’m an introvert would I have an aversion to podcasts?

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iller_mitch t1_iyalduc wrote

If you're so introverted that you have an aversion to what is essentially radio, you might want to talk to a professional.

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Smtxom t1_iyalzss wrote

You’re socializing too much with me. Please stop

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Rambocat1 t1_iycr7xg wrote

I‘m going to pick you up at 6pm and take you to a small party of a few hundred of my closest friends. You will be expected to give a speech of at least 20 minutes in length.

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