Fenomena hubungan parasosial menjadi sesuatu yang kerap diperbincangkan ketika membahas tentang musisi dan penggemar. Istilah yang dikemukakan oleh Donald Horton dan Richard Whorl pada 1956 (Brisco, 2021) itu kerap diasosiasikan dengan musisi pada era media sosial pada penelitian-penelitian di masa kini. Padahal, fenomena hubungan parasosial telah terjadi jauh sebelum istilah tersebut ada. Tulisan ini menjelaskan bagaimana hubungan parasosial antara musisi dan penggemarnya berkembang dalam rentang 100 tahun, dari masa radio (1920-an hingga 1930-an), masa televisi (1940-an hingga 1980-an), dan masa internet (1990-an hingga 2020-an). Walau diklaim bahwa hubungan parasosial yang kuat muncul pada era internet di mana teknologi sangat memadai untuk para penggemar mendapatkan konten yang beragam dan terkesan lebih intim ketimbang konten melalui teknologi kuno, penulis menemukan bahwa hubungan parasosial sejak zaman radio sudah kuat jika melihat konteks dari hiburan di masa itu.

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The parasocial relationship phenomenon has become a subject that is often discussed in a conversation about the musician and fan relationship. The term–put forward by Donald Horton and Richard Whorl in 1956 (Brisco, 2021)–is often associated with musicians in the social media era in current research. While in fact, the parasocial relationship phenomenon occurred long before the term existed. This paper tries to explain how the parasocial relationship between musicians and their fans has developed over a period of 100 years, from the radio era (the 1920s to the 1930s), the television era (the 1940s to the 1980s), and the internet era (the 1990-s to the 2020-s era). Even though it is claimed that strong parasocial relationships emerged in the internet era, where the technology is advanced enough to provide fans with a variety of contents that feels more intimate in comparison to old technology, the writer finds that parasocial relationships even from the radio era has already been strong when we look at the context of entertainment during that time.