Ben Litherland
@benlitherland.bsky.social
Popular culture and politics.
Sometimes academic who writes about those things.
Co-hosts Ill Effects, good podcast about bad media influence https://open.spotify.com/show/0QotQZhgYQOsjCvGMefNjl?si=zRsbRad6SZO
Sometimes academic who writes about those things.
Co-hosts Ill Effects, good podcast about bad media influence https://open.spotify.com/show/0QotQZhgYQOsjCvGMefNjl?si=zRsbRad6SZO
Jesus fucking Christ.
November 22, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Jesus fucking Christ.
I do wonder if this is the logical end point of corporate-controlled participatory culture.
November 18, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I do wonder if this is the logical end point of corporate-controlled participatory culture.
Can someone come and collect Psychology, they're trying to do sociotechnology again.
November 4, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Can someone come and collect Psychology, they're trying to do sociotechnology again.
Can't think of a more relevant tweet for this prick.
November 1, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Can't think of a more relevant tweet for this prick.
Someone should test my cortisol levels right now and conclude that these sorts of studies are bad for everyone's health.
October 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Someone should test my cortisol levels right now and conclude that these sorts of studies are bad for everyone's health.
Someone has dumped a fascinating and provocative conceptual art piece at the bottom of my street.
October 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Someone has dumped a fascinating and provocative conceptual art piece at the bottom of my street.
I've been living in my part of Manchester for 8 years now and only just noticed this street name.
October 5, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I've been living in my part of Manchester for 8 years now and only just noticed this street name.
Holy shit, this is such a TERRIBLE wiki entry that its the first time I've ever been tempted to edit a wiki entry.
September 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Holy shit, this is such a TERRIBLE wiki entry that its the first time I've ever been tempted to edit a wiki entry.
Staying up late on baby duty and seeing the feed become US dominated.
September 21, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Staying up late on baby duty and seeing the feed become US dominated.
A bad day to never read a "Doctor who" sentence as if they're referring the timelord.
September 16, 2025 at 10:02 AM
A bad day to never read a "Doctor who" sentence as if they're referring the timelord.
I don't know if posting the link is the best way to do this tbh as it doesn't include the title. Here you go.
July 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I don't know if posting the link is the best way to do this tbh as it doesn't include the title. Here you go.
The article was partly triggered by me finding out about the New York wildfires via images like this on r/gaming.
July 29, 2025 at 2:44 PM
The article was partly triggered by me finding out about the New York wildfires via images like this on r/gaming.
I can't tell you how silly this is. We explore some of the history of these debates below, but it just completely misses the point about the media's influence.
July 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I can't tell you how silly this is. We explore some of the history of these debates below, but it just completely misses the point about the media's influence.
BBC Sport has Arsenal somehow managing to even bottle the alphabet.
July 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
BBC Sport has Arsenal somehow managing to even bottle the alphabet.
What a wild way to be greeted to a blank word document.
July 10, 2025 at 11:09 AM
What a wild way to be greeted to a blank word document.
I don't blame Anna Clark at all here, but honestly this is the only way History has been defended my entire life and people clearly don't buy it as those things are incredibly vague and I've not seen any evidence undergraduate historians are any better at discerning "real info" Vs "bots".
July 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
I don't blame Anna Clark at all here, but honestly this is the only way History has been defended my entire life and people clearly don't buy it as those things are incredibly vague and I've not seen any evidence undergraduate historians are any better at discerning "real info" Vs "bots".
I am finalizing the research for an episode of Ill Effects about Andrew Tate's influence, and I can't get over how sensible and wise some young people are about this stuff given how silly some adults are around them. This girl kinda smashes affect and hegemony on presumably her first try?
July 4, 2025 at 9:44 AM
I am finalizing the research for an episode of Ill Effects about Andrew Tate's influence, and I can't get over how sensible and wise some young people are about this stuff given how silly some adults are around them. This girl kinda smashes affect and hegemony on presumably her first try?
But yet! Look how much heavy lifting in mainstream cultural it does to explain the world we live in!
(I have many more of these in my episode notes)
(I have many more of these in my episode notes)
![The parasocial effect
One of [the] largest elements that inspires consumers to purchase is an emotional connection to these creators.
This phenomenon, called a parasocial relationship, leads audience members to believe they have a close association or even a friendship with a personality, when the relationship is actually one-sided – often, the content creator may not know the viewer even exists. These nonreciprocal relationships manifest often in social media, particularly with influencers and celebrities, especially the more users are exposed to their content.
The phenomenon plays a role in consumer behaviour, too. “Parasocial relationships are so strong that people are moved to buy,” says Scheinbaum, both in terms of influencers pushing sponsored products and organic creators sharing their favorite personal items.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7db7znfwqy2pl4tt6kbeujxd/bafkreigacw25no2c7hwnufvupg7rghvi34r6atkhy2vtwp5h5k7f32vzbe@jpeg)
July 3, 2025 at 12:24 PM
But yet! Look how much heavy lifting in mainstream cultural it does to explain the world we live in!
(I have many more of these in my episode notes)
(I have many more of these in my episode notes)
In the episode is really try and establish that this was a very obscure academic term until very, very recently. I'm still astounded by how much of the scholarship talks about it like it's an old, established theory when nearly all popular and critical usage is actually about post-social media.
July 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM
In the episode is really try and establish that this was a very obscure academic term until very, very recently. I'm still astounded by how much of the scholarship talks about it like it's an old, established theory when nearly all popular and critical usage is actually about post-social media.
Look at my goofy cat Russell.
June 29, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Look at my goofy cat Russell.
I doubt I'll ever write this up, but I am constantly fascinated by the way football fandom is now structured by a whole ecosystem of fake news built around pre-existing antagonisms.
June 22, 2025 at 10:56 AM
I doubt I'll ever write this up, but I am constantly fascinated by the way football fandom is now structured by a whole ecosystem of fake news built around pre-existing antagonisms.