I guess so, to a point. Jimmy Kimmel wants you to feel like you're a part of a community because you watch his show and get all of his inside jokes, but he's not sending you fake text messages pretending to be your close personal friend. Seems different to me!
The parasocial television friend hustle was developed before that was possible, or else they'd probably all be doing it too. As it is, they stick with their establish form and don't innovate because their audience is people who haven't and probably won't ever adapt to the newer forms of the hustle. If parasocial hustling is food service, then television talk shows are Cracker Barrel.
If no one addresses the roots, why bother condemning the consequences? Eight billion people watch bigcorps screw them up in all poses and nobody bats an eye, cause it’s “legal”. We all get what a few democracies count as normal.
