Spreading the Word: Emphatic Interaction Displays on BlogMaverick.com

This research explores people's disclosures of emphatic interaction - the behavioral effects resulting from parasocial relationships - with National Basketball Association (NBA) team owner, Mark Cuban, while he participated on American Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) popular television show, Dancing with the Stars. An inductive coding process was conducted using constant comparative methodology on 1700 postings in response to 10 of Cuban's entries posted on his blog (www.blogmaverick.com) during his time on the show. Three emphatic interaction categories emerge from data analysis: (1) emotional intensity, (2) devotion, and (3) consultation. The findings of the study suggest a parasocial interaction role reversal wherein media users are counseling celebrities rather than seeking advice from them; findings also suggest that emphatic interaction aids a fan's ability to maintain preferred representations of the celebrity. Both these findings are significantly influenced by the interactive features of computer-mediated communication (CMC), which provide the accessibility to directly communicate emphatic interaction to celebrities.