Video, Para-social Relationships & Social Media - How Psychology In Today's Era Gets Marketing Wins.

By Leo Greyson - published 6/5/2023

In a sea of endless social media pictures, posts, and images, VIDEO continues to come out on top, time and time again. It's simple: Humans have an intrinsic need to socialize, and para-social interaction through internet video has been shown to satisfy this need.

Technology & the double-edged sword.

Compared to the 1990's and before, the way we do literally everything in life is now somehow augmented by the internet and smart devices: How we make friends, pursue romantic interests, how we learn new things and do research, how we conduct business, follow trends, go shopping, receive entertainment, write creatively, even hiring staff -- Life has moved online, humans have began to form an almost symbiotic relationship with technology which in turn has improved our lives. However, no matter how much technology we introduce, humans are still human, and there are psychological and physiological properties that have and will remain the same, which makes this technology a double-edged sword; Marketing psychology experts take advantage of through our smart devices and have their message reach us with a precise effectiveness, specifically the youth. (who science studies have shown are more susceptible [1] and open to forming connections through their smart device.)

What is a Para-Social Relationship?

The main psychological principal that I will be going over today, is the intrinsic ability for people to form internal relationships with people they have never met - known as "Para-Social Relationships". We all at some point have seen a movie or a TV show and formed a true connection with one of the characters, to have some tragedy befall them. Even though it's a movie, and the character is not real, we empathize and sympathize with that character, knowing full well that they aren't real. That is the power of this phenomena known as "Para-Social Relationships". This is not limited to just fictional characters, and actually applies to social media as a whole. You can scroll your news feed for hours, and feel like you are connected with friends, family, and even strangers online.

The Modern Era - Tech, Psychology & Communication

Now, with the modern internet era - as described earlier, the way we communicate, interact and stay up-to-date with one another is becoming increasingly 'asynchronous', in that more and more of our communications are straying away from real-time conversations and phone calls, to things like direct messages, emails, social media posts, and other channels that don't require both parties to be present at the same time. This might be much more convenient for our time, but it also has slowly started to make things much less personal. This is where the elite psychologists and marketing experts are partnering with businesses and influencers and getting their big wins. Using a combination of Video, Parasocial Relationships & Social Media. At the end of the day, people are people. We have not lost our most basic needs of socialization, society has just found ways to satisfy that need through technology and the internet. Just like in the real world, meeting people, making a genuine connection and getting validation from others is something we all seek in some form.

Being able to see someone and hear them talk, seeing thier facial expressions and nonverbal communication, is part of how humans form connections with one another, and over time allows for interpersonal bonding, rapport and trust. A friend of mine on social media shared an example about her mother felt a close connection to former President Obama, despite having never met him in person. "She would receive his social media updates, emails, and texts and she would even call him 'Barry' instead of Barack"

Influencers: The Next 'Movie Star'

Screen time and para-social relationships used to be exclusive to celebrities like movie and TV stars, but now that everyone has a recording device in their pocket and platforms to share videos with others, the ones who get ahead of the curve have a higher chance to leverage these platforms to grow audiences of their own!

As a business professional, a significant tool in your arsenal is simply putting yourself out there, and allowing others to see you, hear you, and build that connection with you behind the screen. Proven by the popularity of platforms that have hundreds of hours of video uploaded EVERY MINUTE. [2]

• Youtube

• Facebook

• Instagram

• TikTok

• Twitch.TV

People flock to platforms that have a wide variety of content creators, whom form massive communities with millions to TENS of millions of subscribers, yet these creators have never met but a handful of these audience members whom fund their entire career.

According to Elite Marketing Expert, Neal Schaffer, 81% of Americans use YouTube, more than any other social network. And half of Instagram's ONE BILLION users regularly view IG stories. [3] If you are striving to stay ahead of the curve, understanding the psychology behind the most successful marketing companies is paramount. -Leo

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Sources: [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5322191/ Tracy R. Gleason,* Sally A. Theran, and Emily M. Newberg Parasocial Interactions and Relationships in Early Adolescence

Published online 2017 Feb 23.

[2]https://www.statista.com/statistics/259477/hours-of-video-uploaded-to-youtube-every-minute/ L. Ceci

Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute as of February 2022

Published Mar 22, 2023

[3] https://nealschaffer.com/video-marketing-statistics/ Neal Schaffer The Top 42 Video Marketing Statistics for 2023 Revised, April 23rd, 2023