I think the idea is that the way we are wired it’s a pretty natural thing that happens when we are exposed to depictions of other people (real or fictional). One thing I read also suggested that the content we get from media figures is very conducive to this kind of bonding because they often share very intimate facts about themselves, they establish reciprocal relationships with their audience where the audience likes/subscribes, buys merch, etc.

Might be kind of like dopamine and variable reward cycles where technology is able to hijack a response that came to into existence in a very different environment.

So far most of what I’ve read indicates that parasocial relationships are viewed as benign or positive by mental health specialists because they can genuinely supply some of the social needs people have and contribute to positive personal resiliency, stuff like that.

Very interesting and weird and probably only more relevant as time goes on.