Parasocial Pistol

If the Oxford English dictionary defines “parasocial” as an adjective — “designating a relationship characterized by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend” — what does that mean for those of us who live it as a verb? Why do some people get hooked on this kind of thing early and then grow out of it, or stay hooked, or never get hooked at all?