Hot take: Social media is the means by which all relationships become parasocial. Even if you know a personal IRL, your interaction with them online is asymmetrical, because you only ever interact with a curated version of them: affection directed toward a shadow.
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This is an excellent point. But what I like about the concept of parasocial interaction is that the term is able to avoid questions of honesty, deception, and authenticity. It's a question of structure and form: How does the medium shape the interaction? Is reciprocity possible?
(Admitting of course that deception and perceived authenticity play an enormous role in actual parasocial bonds, especially as they are commodified or used to exploit the desire for human contact.)
