2C03: Donald Horton - Para-social Interaction and Personae

Concepts have had a significant bearing on subsequent theories of media production and reception

1. Para-social Interaction

2. Personae

●Para-social interaction with personae:

○ These provide ordinary individuals with an escapist outlet away from the fears and uncertainties of a ‘real world’ subject to all the implications of modernity

What do you think are the para-social and personae aspects of these videos?

Personae

Criticisms

Question 1

Definition

Personae are the personalities or performers that build up intimate, para-social audiences through the media in the form of radio or television

Makes a crude distinction between social (real) and para-social (less real) interactions

Post-modern theory would reject this distinction because media create new sense of reality different from traditional ones associated with face to face interaction

An important characteristic is that personae provide a continuing relationship for audiences

Their character and pattern of action remain basically unchanged in a world of change

Name someone in the media and give an example of para-social interaction vs. personae

Personae must work hard in order to receive the affection and affiliation of people

Outstanding performances of self presentation are the stimulus for para-social intimacy

Personae use different tricks and techniques such as mingling with studio audiences, expressing feelings from ‘the heart’ in close up and mixing sincerity with comedy

Question 2

Do you think that in this day and age there are other media that can be utilized personae for para-social interactions and how do personae use this media to create the interaction?

Question 3

Para-social Interaction

Definition

“Para-social interaction refers to the apparent familiarity between media personalities and audiences that can be established through routine use of radio and television, particularly chat shows and other formats which include a studio audience” (Laughey, 2007, 86)

Para-social interaction refers to the way that TV personalities interact with their audiences (both live and through the television).

An example of para-social interaction would be Oprah or Ellen. They have the audience interact and involved on the shows and have the hosts have certain TV “Personalities” and actions that are associated with them on that show. It may not necessarily be how they are in the real world.

The TV personalities “exist for their audiences only in a para-social relation” (216)

It is how the “hosts” act, whereas persona is the way that they act.

In what ways does Horton’s theory coincide with Katz and Lazarsfeld’s Two-Step Flow theory in Chapter 2?

Thank you!

Chapter 5: Donald Horton

Daniel Horton: Biography

Para-social and Personae Theories

Donald Horton graduated with a bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1935 and received his doctorate in anthropology from Yale in 1943 (Peters & Simonson, 2004, 373).

He worked as a research associate at CBS (1944-47) which shaped his thinking about the communicative relationships formed via mass media (ibid).

While teaching sociology at the University of Chicago, Horton worked with Richard Wohl on Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction in 1956 (Laughey, 2007, 86).

By: Kelsey Holst, Jillian Goltz, & Laila Ebrahim

Outline

1. Donald Horton Biography

2. Para-social Interaction

3. Personae

4. Para-social vs. Personae

5. Criticisms

6. What do you think?

7. Discussion Questions