“It’s between me and myself”: Inverse parasocial relationships in addressing (imagined) podcast listeners

Abstract

This article explores how podcasters address their invisible—and thus imagined—audience. Based on in-depth interviews, we examine how different ways of imagining the listener evoke specific strategies of addressivity and analyze the connection between these imaginaries and the concept of intimacy as understood and performed by podcasters. We introduce a working definition of the “imagined podcast listener” and present a typology of eight types of imagined relationships between podcaster and audience. By juxtaposing these findings with the contexts in which podcasters describe “intimacy,” we argue that while podcasters may envision a diverse audience, their perception of intimacy within their podcasts often reflects a self-centered imaginary of the listener. We describe this phenomenon as an inverse parasocial relationship, as it reverses the direction of the illusory connection between media personae and their audiences. Despite the potential of podcasting to foster dialogue, we highlight its tendency to promote inward-directed addressivity.