Consequential Strangers

The Power of People Who Don't Seem To Matter...But Really Do

Journalist Melinda Blau, author of Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter, researches and writes about relationships and trends. See full bio

June 30, 2009, Relationships

Comments on "Michael, We Think We Knew Ya"

Michael, We Think We Knew Ya

By Melinda Blau on June 30, 2009 in Consequential Strangers

Did you feel like you "knew" Michael Jackson? Can celebrities have relationships with mere mortals? And what about the new niche-celbs who rise to online fame. The author of a new book about casual relationships ponders our connections to the cult of celebrity--on and off the Internet. Read More

Strangers No More

Submitted by Anonymous on June 30, 2009 - 3:58pm.

I like the phrase "consequential strangers" and as long as they limit their interactions to the Internet, no problem. But too many of them have become the official media and stalk celebrities. These stalkers include Larry King, Barbara Walters, and all the other "intimates" of the news media. I'm sure they all contributed to Michael Jackson's deat, as the article at http://www.peer.ca/disaster.html concludes, "they weakened his heart and stole his soul."

the celebrity-as-chum effect

Submitted by Kaja Perina on July 1, 2009 - 6:57am.

This post makes a great point. Evolutionary psychologist and fellow PT blogger Satoshi Kanazawa argues that some people are in fact wired to view anyone to whom they're regularly exposed as a "consequential stranger" or even a friend, even if the exposure is only via media.
We covered this idea most recently in "Seeing by Starlight," here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200407/seeing-starlight-celebrit...