‘Love Island’: The Reality of Reality TV

Abstract

Love Island is a reality TV dating gameshow, which sees men and women, flying to Majorca looking to find love over a course of eight weeks in the summer. With £50,000 standing as prize money, couples must win over the audience to be in for a chance of winning. Contestants can either apply or be scouted through social media, normally through the social sites such as Instagram and Twitter. Contestants throughout the duration of the show gain followers and ‘fans’ across social media apps, which are later used for the purpose of advertisement and promoting different things. Reality TV can be seen as a guilty pleasure (Skeggs, 2009) however, is a huge influence on individuals’ choices and the nature of today’s society. Arguably our reality has been distorted by reality TV, affecting society and how it functions.