It is set to be the wedding of the year, or maybe the century. Rumors and speculation about the dress, the hair, the venue, and the guests are inescapable.And no, the bride told us, you can't come.Like pigeons at the doors of Madison Square Garden, the world is left to nibble on tossed breadcrumbs.So, why does this event feel so oddly personal for millions?"Love Taylor and I'm excited for her wedding… hopefully we see a picture," wrote one Reddit user."I BADLY WANT her to be happy," wrote another.To non-Swifties, that level of investment might seem over the top, but feeling socially or emotionally close to a media figure, so much so that they feel like a friend, isn't necessarily an obsession.According to Bradley Bond, who researches media psychology at the University of San Diego (USD), these types of responses are perfectly normal.They may even be beneficial. Bond takes a social psychological approach to investigating our relationships with celebrities and fictional characters.Fans react to Taylor Swift as she performs her "The 1989 World Tour" on October 31, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Tim Boyles/Stringer/Getty Images Entertainment)He told ScienceAlert that research suggests we have similar emotional responses to media figures as we do to people we know personally, though they are typically less intense.