// Glossary
Parasocial Relationship
6 topics
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Is the Community in Virtual Space Different from Real Community?
A psychological phenomenon where a one-sided media figure feels like an intimate relationship to the viewer. Prominent between VTubers and fans.
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Imagining VTubers Outside of Their Streams
A one-sided relationship formed through media where one feels intimacy despite the other not knowing them. Commonly seen between VTuber fans and streamers.
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Does Media Alleviate Loneliness or Deepen It?
A one-sided sense of intimacy felt toward media figures (celebrities, characters, influencers). Not an actual two-way relationship.
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Can We Sense Others’ Existence Through Sound Alone?
A one-sided sense of intimacy formed through audio alone.
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Attachment to a Being One Can Only Encounter Through a Screen
A one-sided relationship in which a viewer feels intimacy toward a media persona, but the persona does not know or respond to it. Proposed by Donald Horton and others in the 1950s, it has gained even greater intensity in the VTuber era.
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What Are We Supporting When We Support a VTuber?
A one-sided relationship of closeness or attachment. Arises in one-way media experiences but is strengthened in VTubers by bidirectional elements (comment replies, etc.).