Listening to podcasts may help satisfy our psychological need for social connection, study finds

Absolutely. I listen to YouTube or Twitch while I work, not for the content so much as just for the sound of someone talking.

That makes me think of the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Sometimes the subject is not that interesting to me, I just wanna listen to two buddies being buddies and overall great human beings.

This also reminds me of the group dynamics in FFXV. As an RPG, not a stellar game (in my view). But I loved feeling part of that group. Heartwarming.

I listen to various actual play TTRPG podcasts, and they make the time go nicer. It kind of feels like I'm "at the table."

Recently I've been thinking about exactly this. Well, not podcasts per se, but online media with a host(s). Specifically gaming videos.

I started discovering Youtube in 2008, when I was 14. I didn't really have friends at school at that point and had started to become more socially isolated. Even prior to that I enjoyed watching others play games. With let's play videos there was often an added layer of humour to it as well. For nearly 15 years now, I've spent countless hours watching unscripted videos of other people play games, far more than the time I've spent playing games myself. I rarely had the patience for movies or TV shows (I could never follow the plot), but could watch gaming videos nearly endlessly (no plot; just focus on what's currently on screen).

I've been wondering just how much this has helped keep loneliness away, but also how much has it kept me from even trying to form IRL relationships. For me, those have always been immensely draining, but almost never fulfilling, which has led me disappearing from friend groups without a word. Watching someone narrate a video is completely one-sided: it lets me relax without having to worry about what I should say or shouldn't say (I've always preferred listening anyway). There's also no guilt when I stop interacting that person (i.e. watching their videos), since they never knew I existed anyway.

This article was also the first time I saw parasocial relationships framed in a positive (or at least neutral) light, which I think should be explored further. I've seen that term pop up much more since the pandemic started, with many bringing attention to the fact that some online creators (streamers especially) are blatantly taking advantage of their audience, framing themselves as their "friend". I never developed those feelings for a stranger on the internet, but I feel as though in some way they've kept me from going completely crazy in my solitude (which I enjoy perhaps too much).

Over the years I've found more varied content, like sciencey/educational videos and video essays.

I can't tell if I'm lucky or unlucky that online media doesn't do this for me. Probably an ADHD thing: I'm even less consistant at keeping up with podcasts/youtube channels I like than I am at physically meeting friends, and I always lose interest within a few months to a year.

Maybe it's an advantage to mental health to have access to some "hangin with your buddies" dopamine even on days when you don't have the energy to actually go do it. On the other hand, parasocial bonds seem to be a big contributing factor to a lot of bad and bizarre online behaviour.

So I can guess that I might be a little happier but a little more likely to fall into a conspiracy rabbit hole.

We all need a "deity" to look up to, someone who can explain the unexplained and unseen mysteries of life. And we need them the most when something goes wrong and we are at our most vulnerable point in life. In the old days, there used to be gods and religions and theologies, that space is today taken by Influencers, Podcasters, Youtubers, etc. in the modern world.

As a tribe, we are always going to have this psychological need, this problem will never be solved just because the mysterious universe/life can't be fully known or comprehended. Even the experts will need them because nobody is an expert on everything! We can never know more than what the best of human race knows.

I use PocketCasts, and whenever I see a new episode that sounds interesting I add it to the queue, even if I haven't listened to a single podcast in weeks, I have a backlog now of 200-300 at any given time, and then when I have the (social?) urge to take part in and listen to podcasts, I listen to them at 1.6-2x speed with silences removed, so that when I am in the mood for podcasts I can speed listen to about 10-30 before my attention drifts. Rinse and repeat.

Every few weeks I'll look at the queue and delete anything that doesn't pique my interest now, because that's more important than whatever I wanted to listen to in the past.

Side note: I've found my number one problem with meetings with real people podcasts is the speed, people just talk too slowly and the dead air is uncomfortable. Podcasts have the ability that I can back it up by 25 seconds to relisten to something that pangs the mind.

Indeed, I find Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast to be an invaluable resource. The topics are usually quite technical, a good chunk of them being focused on quantum physics, cosmology, philosophy, biology etc. Best way to spend a few hours each week.