Regularly viewing the cast of a television show in your living room every week creates a feeling of intimacy and familiarity that communication scholars Horton and Wohl have called "para-social interaction." These para-social relationships can be emotionally gratifying, to the point where people tune in to particular programs to check in with their "friends." Micro-celebrity extends this idea to networked webs of direct interaction.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 281