Call for research participants! [UK based, LGBTQ+, 18+]

I'm nayan-tara, a master's student who is currently doing a dissertation about parasocial relationships, consumption, and the ethics behind consumption habits among LGBTQ+ people in the UK. I am looking to interview LGBTQ+ people in parasocial relationships with celebrities online.

Fandom spaces on the internet is a huge part of my research because so much of a parasocial relationship today is shaped by the internet, so I thought this smosh server would be an appropriate place to look for participants :) Smosh has been a longstanding space in media and the internet and fan behaviour across fandoms has taken on a parasocial nature over the years which is my reason for wanting to put a call for participants on this server.

Some context for me as the researcher: I have been a part of multiple fandoms since I was a teen almost a decade ago (pokemon, star trek, phandom, kpop, yuri on ice and so many more) as well as have some parasocial relationships like so many of us!! So if you are wondering what an interview would look like with me, it would be non-judgemental and an open space for you to share your thoughts and feelings with me :) The interview would not be fed into any GenAI tools and would only be used temporarily for academic purposes. I am very happy to share more information if you are interested!

If you fit the following criteria please don't hesitate to message me on here or email me at n.krishnan2@lse.ac.uk. My study has been approved by my uni's ethics committee as well.

• You identify as queer or as part of the LGBTQIA+ community
• You are above the age of 18
• You live in the UK
• You think you are in a Parasocial relationship with someone

Thank you to the mods for letting me share this message here :)