How Hawk Tuah Explains Parasociality

The phrase “Hawk Tuah” was briefly inescapable in 2024. And the woman behind the meme, Hailey Welch, rocketed to mainstream popularity before introducing a crypto coin that may have been a straight-up scam. So why would people invest their hard-earned money in a not-so-inside joke? Let’s talk about parasocial relationships, and whether they’re good, bad or just plain complicated.

How capitalism solves its alienation problem: parasocial relationships, a commodified simulacrum of actual relationships.