Posting from the Past

A Longitudinal Study of the Potentials of Parasocial Interaction with a Historical Figure for History Education

Abstract

Historical figures have been increasingly brought into the Instagram world, providing insights into the past from a first-person perspective by addressing followers in stories or posts. This type of representation promotes the parasocial interaction (PSI) that creates the illusion of a face-to-face interaction with a media figure. This suggests the possibility that historical Instagram accounts might offer a novel platform for history education. This longitudinal study investigates PSI via actual interaction (e.g., liking and commenting on posts) with historical figures on social media. It uses the results to analyze educational potential in terms of several outcomes: interest in and knowledge about the historical figure and awareness of the historical characteristics and fictional nature of the accounts. To achieve this, followers of the German historical Instagram account @ichbinsophiescholl were surveyed at two time points (N t1 = 239; N t2 = 84). The findings reveal that actual interaction is positively related to the experience of PSI. In turn, PSI was supported by participants’ general interest in history. PSI did not increase over time but was positively associated with interest in the historical figure. Furthermore, followers experiencing PSI were more aware of the historical characteristics of the account but less aware of its fictionality.