This article explores how podcasters address their invisible—and thus imagined—audience. Based on in-depth interviews, we examine how different ways of imagining the listener evoke specific strategies of addressivity and analyze the connection between these imaginaries and the concept of intimacy as understood and performed by podcasters. We introduce a working definition of the “imagined podcast listener” and present a typology of eight types of imagined relationships between podcaster and audience. By juxtaposing these findings with the contexts in which podcasters describe “intimacy,” we argue that while podcasters may envision a diverse audience, their perception of intimacy within their podcasts often reflects a self-centered imaginary of the listener. We describe this phenomenon as an inverse parasocial relationship, as it reverses the direction of the illusory connection between media personae and their audiences. Despite the potential of podcasting to foster dialogue, we highlight its tendency to promote inward-directed addressivity.

中文翻译：

---

“这是我和我自己之间的事”：与（想象的）播客听众的反向超社会关系


本文探讨了播客如何解决他们看不见的——因此也是想象中的——听众。基于深入访谈，我们研究了想象听众的不同方式如何唤起特定的寻址策略，并分析了这些想象与播客所理解和执行的亲密概念之间的联系。我们介绍了 “想象中的播客听众 ”的工作定义，并提出了播客和听众之间八种想象关系的类型学。通过将这些发现与播客描述 “亲密关系 ”的背景并列，我们认为，虽然播客可能会设想一个多样化的听众，但他们在播客中对亲密关系的感知往往反映了听众以自我为中心的想象。我们将这种现象描述为一种反向的超社会关系，因为它颠倒了媒体人物与其受众之间虚幻联系的方向。尽管播客有可能促进对话，但我们强调它促进内向型的寻址的倾向。