The many forms of mass media that were developed during the twentieth century have challenged the assumption that relationships occur only between "real" people who know each other personally. Mass media creators, as well as researchers, have long recognized that media consumers are drawn to compelling media characters and personalities. In 1956, Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl wrote a seminal article entitled "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction." They coined the term "parasocial interaction" to describe the imaginary interactions between television variety show hosts and their home audiences, as well as the "seeming face-to-face relationship" that viewers developed with these personalities. Horton and Wohl argued that a sense of "interaction" was conveyed to viewers because hosts appeared as themselves and often directly addressed the audience. In fictional programming, performers rarely "break the fourth wall" and speak directly to the audience. Yet viewers still...