There's so much I liked about this post but especially I appreciate the blunt rejection of ranking, scoring, and evaluating real conversations with our real people. I don't want to optimize my interactions and friendships I want to live them.
In terms of parasociality, there is a clear distinction between podcasts and livestreaming. Podcasts, like you say, are functionally highly similar to radio. Livestreams though have a high degree of viewer interaction baked in, the chat. This creates the illusion of a two way conversation in livestreaming not present in podcasts, meaning much more parasocial behaviour.
Thanks. I thought this Sam Wolfson piece was doing something similar in situating the genre as a salve for loneliness - classic broadcast media functionality as you suggest. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/20/joe-rogan-theo-von-podcasts-donald-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
There's so much I liked about this post but especially I appreciate the blunt rejection of ranking, scoring, and evaluating real conversations with our real people. I don't want to optimize my interactions and friendships I want to live them.
another banger
In terms of parasociality, there is a clear distinction between podcasts and livestreaming. Podcasts, like you say, are functionally highly similar to radio. Livestreams though have a high degree of viewer interaction baked in, the chat. This creates the illusion of a two way conversation in livestreaming not present in podcasts, meaning much more parasocial behaviour.