A mechanism or tactic · 1950 · Suburbia
The neighbour
Someone whose kitchen light you can see, whose bin day you know, and whose life you have been tracking for years without ever having asked.
A parasocial bond with somebody who is physically present and therefore, apparently, cannot be the subject of one. The reasoning is that proximity disqualifies attachment, which is exactly backwards and is why Section 07 was empty for so long.
Application. One-sided attachment put to work on purpose. Creator economies, community, fandom as infrastructure, and the things that genuinely help people. Not automatically good - a tool with an obvious use is a tool that will also get a bad one.
Where it sits
1950 1950-1999 · 1950 1999
Provenance · 2 source record(s)
- retrievableThe canonical account of why proximity without contact produces a relationship at all: weak ties carry information and feelings that strong ties cannot, and the value of an acquaintance is precisely that it is un-demandedGranovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. ↗
- unverifiedThe city's price for that: the essay tradition on urban indifference describes exactly the condition this entry describes - you can know a person's habits from their kitchen light without ever having been introduced, and the arrangement suits both partiesSennett, R. The Conscience of the Eye: The Architecture and Morality of Public Space.
Connected · 2 out, 3 in
It sits in