ABSTRACT
The study of parasocial relationships (Horton and Wohl 1956) has been a prominent concern for investigations into mediated interaction for several decades. Of notable interest are the emotional qualities that parasocial relationships engender, and the importance of emotions in generating feelings of social connectedness in virtual environments. This chapter is a theoretical examination of the Internet as a parasocial environment in which emotional interactions are prominent in social interaction. The discussion begins with a review of Interaction Ritual Theory (IRT) developed by Randall Collins (1981, 2004), and its relevance for the study of online interaction. It then moves to an analysis of the literature on parasociality (Horton and Wohl 1956) and its relationship to the study of virtual social worlds. We argue that research into parasocial interaction provides an excellent foundation for a re-examination of IRT. Although IRT limits itself by emphasizing face-toface (F2F) interaction, our argument expands Collins' IRT by examining the factor of “co-presence” within Internet-based, parasocial relationships. We review the growing literature on “presence” (Lombard and Ditton 1997) that has investigated the ability of virtual environments to simulate co-presence and create parasocially shared emotional experiences. We also examine the role of sociological context in the formation of parasocial co-presence and the means through which online emotional experiences can be translated into real-space relationships. To support the theoretical ideas developed within the chapter, research from online communities, chat-rooms, and virtual worlds are examined. Finally, the chapter discusses the theoretical implications of examining IRT in the context of the Internet, and proposes that interaction rituals (IRs) in both real and virtual spaces intersect to produce an unprecedented, emotional experience for individuals.
