Book review of The Shaping of the Parasocial Self: On the Psychology of Relationships and Intimacy in the Digital Era (1st ed.), by Johanna L. Degen, Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025, 227 pages

Abstract

Parasocial interaction has long served as a framework for theorizing forms of mediated intimacy that carry genuine social weight despite their structurally asymmetrical character. Horton and Wohl’s (1956) foundational concept of “intimacy at a distance” established the terms of a conversation that subsequent scholarship has substantially complicated, most notably through the distinction between episodic parasocial interaction and the more durable formations captured by the concept of parasocial relationships (Dibble et al., 2016; Giles, 2002; Rubin & McHugh, 1987; Tukachinsky et al., 2020). That trajectory of elaboration has also meant a gradual loosening from the field’s original anchoring in celebrity culture and broadcast media. It is within this expanded and somewhat unsettled conversation that Johanna L. Degen’s The Shaping of the Parasocial Self: On the Psychology of Relationships and Intimacy in the Digital Era makes its timely entrance. Degen’s intervention is particularly welltimed. Parasociality is no longer a phenomenon confined to television audiences or fan cultures; it is now deeply woven into the everyday fabric of digital life.