# Parasocial communication

"Parasocial" is a word most institutions flinch from — and Andrew Maynard has planted the initiative's flag on it, in its best sense. The idea: the one-way but deeply felt relationships that audiences form with communicators, long dismissed as a pathology of celebrity culture, may be the most under-used channel through which expertise can empower people at scale — exactly what navigating transformative AI and other transformative technologies demands. It is why we run a podcast the way we do, it structured a federal project's methodology, and it names a mode of scholarship that academia still typically punishes rather than rewards. The [Modem Futura](modem-futura.md) page shows the practice; this page carries the argument.

## The argument

The argument starts from a familiar failure. When experts communicate with publics they typically default to *transactional* communication — information passed from those who have it to those who lack it — underwritten by the deficit model: the assumption that "bad" decisions simply reflect a deficit in understanding, which experts are happy to fix. In the anchor essay (2025-05-25), Andrew opens with academics baffled by popular support for Donald Trump in the 2024 US election and inverts the diagnosis: the most glaring deficit belonged to the experts, who failed to grasp how much relationships — including parasocial ones — shape how people think, behave, and decide. The deficit model, he notes, "has been repeatedly shown not to be effective," yet remains "deeply engrained in how we teach and train engineers, scientists and technologists to this day."

The established alternative — two-way public engagement — works but does not scale. It is "messy and inefficient," demands expert vulnerability, and typically reaches tens to hundreds of participants where a broadcast reaches tens of thousands. Andrew's first move is a distinction inside the alternative: *relationship-based* communication typically uses relationships to bring about specific, predetermined outcomes (more trust in science, "right" health decisions); *relational* communication is broader — it draws on relationships to facilitate the flow of ideas so that participants can benefit from that flow *on their own terms*.

That distinction opens the category the argument is named for. Parasocial communication — built on the one-way-yet-felt connections audiences form with a communicator, a concept borrowed from Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl's 1956 paper on "para-social interaction" — is, he argues, the form of relational communication that escapes the scale trap: it "potentially has the reach of transactional forms of expert-public communication, and the impact of relationship-based communication and engagement." The evidence is practitioner evidence: virologist Christian Drosten's *Das Coronavirus* podcast, which purportedly drew over 41 million downloads in its first couple of months as Germans sought "a personal connection with someone they trusted, and not just facts"; Carl Sagan, Bill Nye, John and Hank Green, Alice Roberts.

The mechanism is *permission-granting*. Audiences connect with these communicators emotionally and personally, and the resulting parasocial relationships "effectively give them permission to talk about what they know." Communication that looks one-way is, in substance, relational — the audience has extended an invitation, and the invitation, not the credential, is what lets complex ideas land.

The argument then explains its own suppression. Andrew parses why experts communicate into four porous categories — instruction, ego, impact, and empowerment. Expert circles typically assume instruction and impact as defaults; both are generally transactional, treating the communicator as secondary to the content. But relational communication only works if audiences connect with the communicator *as a person* — making the communicator part of the message. Academia reads that as ego: practitioners risk "being branded as self-promoting," institutions withhold support, actively discourage the work, or mistake hard-won parasocial relationships for a broadcast channel that can be co-opted. Carl Sagan "was famously sidelined by academia for his public communication and engagement." The Foresight Catalyst final report records the same force as lived experience: colleagues misread the work as "'just media' or even self-promotion, rather than scholarship in practice" (§5.2.3, 2025).

The essay is candid about its epistemic status: a Scopus search for "parasocial AND communication AND expert AND public*" returned exactly one record. The evidence is "anecdotal rather than systematic," and whether parasocial communication can deliver empowerment at scale is a research agenda, not a settled result — which is itself part of the claim: a mode of communication this promising is nearly unstudied.

Finally, the relational/transactional lens is load-bearing well beyond communication theory. It became the axis of Andrew's AI-email risk framework (2025-09-07), a 2×2 crossing relational/transactional context with one-to-one/one-to-many mode — which found that relational, one-to-one email is precisely where AI drafting is most corrosive, because organizations run on "relational connective tissue." It recurs as Modem Futura's cross-domain thesis — teaching "remains fundamentally relational," with trust between instructor and student "the real infrastructure" (ep. 84, 2026); "Every business, it turns out, is still a human business" (ep. 88, 2026) — and as the closing lesson of *AI and the Art of Being Human* (Abbott & Maynard, 2025): "the power of the relational over the transactional." And when Cambridge Dictionary made "parasocial" its 2025 Word of the Year in part for its darkest associations — unhealthy bonds with AI chatbots — Andrew held the line rather than retreating from the word: parasocial relationships, with people or with AI, can be healthy or unhealthy, and "the association between 'parasocial' and AI isn't necessarily bad" (2025-11-19). The work, he argues, is learning what differentiates the two.

## Lineage

- **1956 — the borrowed foundation.** Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl coin the "para-social relationship" in "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction," *Psychiatry* 19(3): 215–229 ([doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049](https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049)) — quoted in the anchor essay's footnotes as the classic text.
- **March 2024 — the method before the name.** The "In Conversation With …" Chronodiversity series — five intimate recorded conversations between creative thinkers, some of whom had never met, published in a single week — enacts relationship-first convening that Andrew calls "the antithesis of the sort of content that dominates today's attention economy": [Chronodiversity, other minds, and the temporal dimensions of consciousness – Five conversations that will stretch your imagination!](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/chronodiversity-other-minds-and-the) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/chronodiversity-other-minds-and-the.html)) (2024-03-10).
- **October 2024 — the working example launches.** [Modem Futura](modem-futura.md) begins weekly episodes; per the 2025 essay, the podcast was "the impetus that finally got the mental wheels turning" toward the parasocial lens.
- **2025-05-25 — the near-manifesto.** [Why parasocial communication around complex ideas is important – and why we need more of it](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/why-parasocial-communication-is-important) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/why-parasocial-communication-is-important.html)) sets out the whole architecture: deficit-model failure, relational vs. transactional, the four purposes, permission-granting, the Scopus gap.
- **August 2025 — federal codification.** The *Future Travel Foresight Catalyst* final report (Maynard & Leahy, published at [rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942](https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942)) names parasocial relationship-building a methodological pillar (§2.2), treating "audience relationships as the primary outcome" — see [The Foresight Catalyst model](foresight-catalyst.md).
- **2025-09-07 — the lens becomes a risk instrument.** [The hidden risks of using AI to write emails](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/the-hidden-risks-of-using-ai-for-email) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/the-hidden-risks-of-using-ai-for-email.html)) builds its 2×2 risk framework on the relational/transactional axis.
- **2025-10-14 — the practice reaffirmed on air.** Modem Futura's first-anniversary episode explains "why we double-down on being a relational—not transactional—podcast" (ep. 53, "We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the Road Ahead"; [episode mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/53-we-turned-one-plus-liquid-media-work-slop-and-the-road-ahead.html)).
- **2025-11-19 — holding the line.** After Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year turns "parasocial" negative, [Parasocial Relationships: Problematic Practice or Public Promise?](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/parasocial-relationships-problematic) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/parasocial-relationships-problematic.html)) restates and extends the case — including to human–AI parasocial relationships.

## In his own words

From [Why parasocial communication around complex ideas is important – and why we need more of it](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/why-parasocial-communication-is-important) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/why-parasocial-communication-is-important.html)), 2025-05-25:

> "The distinction is important as it opens the way to thinking about parasocial communication as a form of relational communication that is distinct from transactional or relationship-based approaches, and one that potentially has the reach of transactional forms of expert-public communication, and the impact of relationship-based communication and engagement."

> "Each of these has been able to connect with large audiences because people connect with them emotionally and personally. The parasocial relationships they establish with listeners, viewers, and readers, effectively give them permission to talk about what they know. And even though the communication may seem one-way, this permission-granting makes it far more nuanced and relational."

From [Parasocial Relationships: Problematic Practice or Public Promise?](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/parasocial-relationships-problematic) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/parasocial-relationships-problematic.html)), 2025-11-19:

> "Here, I suggested that parasocial relationships developed through platforms like blogs, podcasts, and other forms of social media—I used the example of the Modem Futura podcast I co-host with Sean Leahy—present an emerging and powerful way for experts to have relevance and impact at scale.
>
> This, I argued, is because these parasocial relationships can draw back the curtain on the process of creating new knowledge, and help people feel they are connected to discussions and discoveries they would usually be excluded from.
>
> It's a concept that I practice in my own work, and still stand by."

## Engagement and reception

Independent engagement specifically with this argument is thin on the record as of 2026-08-06. The framework entered the federal record in August 2025 via the *Future Travel Foresight Catalyst* final report ([rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942](https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942)) — a published federal document, though authored by Maynard and Leahy themselves. Cambridge Dictionary's selection of "parasocial" as its 2025 Word of the Year (November 2025) is independent evidence of the concept's public salience, but it engaged the word — largely negatively, via concerns over AI chatbot relationships — not the initiative's argument; Andrew's 2025-11-19 post is the response. We know of no published independent evaluation of, or scholarly reply to, the parasocial-communication thesis itself; the essay's own Scopus analysis (2025-05-25) suggests why the field it addresses is nearly empty. For the initiative-wide reception record, see [Reception](reception.md).

## Where to go deeper

- [Why parasocial communication around complex ideas is important – and why we need more of it](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/why-parasocial-communication-is-important) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/why-parasocial-communication-is-important.html)) — the full argument, with the four-purposes taxonomy and the Scopus gap analysis (2025-05-25).
- [Parasocial Relationships: Problematic Practice or Public Promise?](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/parasocial-relationships-problematic) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/parasocial-relationships-problematic.html)) — the post-Word-of-the-Year defense, extending the frame to human–AI relationships (2025-11-19).
- [The hidden risks of using AI to write emails](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/the-hidden-risks-of-using-ai-for-email) ([AI-readable mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/the-hidden-risks-of-using-ai-for-email.html)) — the relational/transactional lens as a working risk framework (2025-09-07).
- Horton, D., & Wohl, R. R. (1956). "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction." *Psychiatry* 19(3): 215–229. [doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049](https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049) — the founding text.
- Maynard, A., & Leahy, S. (2025). *Future Travel Foresight Catalyst* (Final Project Report), published at [rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942](https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91942) — parasocial relationship-building as federal methodology (§2.2; the page blocks automated fetchers; human readers can open it directly).
- Abbott, J., & Maynard, A. (2025). *AI and the Art of Being Human* (Waymark Works Publishing) — the relational-over-transactional lesson for a mass audience (see [Books](books.md)).
- Modem Futura episodes — the practice and the lens at work: ep. 46, 2025-08-26, "Agentic AI in Education & the Art of Becoming with Punya Mishra" ([episode mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/46-agentic-ai-in-education-the-art-of-becoming-with-punya-mishr.html)); ep. 53, 2025-10-14, "We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the Road Ahead" ([episode mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/53-we-turned-one-plus-liquid-media-work-slop-and-the-road-ahead.html)); ep. 84, 2026-05-19, "School's Out for Summer: AI, Vibe Coding, and What Teaching Still Requires" ([episode mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/84-school-s-out-for-summer-ai-vibe-coding-and-what-teaching-sti.html)); ep. 88, 2026-06-16, "AI Jobs, Liquid Software & Human Flourishing with Jeff Abbott" ([episode mirror](https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/88-ai-jobs-liquid-software-human-flourishing-with-jeff-abbott.html)).
- Related ideas-ring pages: [The Foresight Catalyst model](foresight-catalyst.md) — the federal methodology this idea anchors; [Trust over metrics](trust-over-metrics.md) — the impact philosophy relational communication implies; [Playgrounds, not playpens](playgrounds-not-playpens.md) — the same relational stance in education.
- Related corpus pages: [Modem Futura](modem-futura.md) — the method in weekly practice; [Philosophy](philosophy.md) — why relationships, not KPIs, are the initiative's measure; [Trust over metrics: a federal experiment](impact-trust-over-metrics.md) — the DOT report in full.