Huda Mustafa at the Season 7 reunion of Love Island USA

Reality shows, like almost all television programming, have always thrived on attention currency: the idea that our viewing habits can be commodified into a measure of what’s hot, popular and worthy of our precious time.

At reality TV’s genesis, that looked like network ratings from millions of viewers tuning in for appointment television week after week for, in most cases, the juicy drama they couldn’t get enough of. Nowadays, though, those ratings are more contingent upon on-screen drama sparking discussions, and not just in our homes, group chats or at the office watercooler. Instead, conversations have shifted to places like social media, which are designed to fuel TV gossip discourse (the good and the bad) for a much wider, more engaged and, dare I say, obsessed audience.

It’s for that reason that many who aren’t avid reality TV watchers may have found their social media timelines hijacked this summer by the annual fixation of Love Island USA.

A hit spinoff of the long-running UK original, Love Island USA has become the most-talked-about reality series in recent memory across the pond, largely due to the unprecedented success of season six’s breakout cast — whom fans have followed religiously online and in real life since last summer, and even now on their spin-off, Love Island: Beyond The Villa.

But the same can be said of the show’s record-breaking seventh season, which has been the subject of just as much, if not more, internet chatter this summer.

With fan-favourite couples like Nicolandria (Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen) and Chellace (Chelley Bissainthe and Ace Greene) gaining devoted followings and sparking their own cultural waves — alongside an increasingly star-studded viewership – Love Island USA has solidified its place as a full-blown reality TV obsession.

But amid all that passion, something shifted between seasons six and seven that took the Love Island USA fandom into toxic territory, so much so that the show itself had to intervene.

Olandria Carthen, Amaya Espinal, Chris Seeley, Iris Kendall and Nic Vansteenberghe during a Season 7 challenge.

Ahead of one episode that aired in late June, the US series issued a “friendly reminder” to viewers amid growing negative discourse online about some contestants.

“We appreciate the fans, the passion for the series, and the amazing group of Islanders who are sharing their summer with us,” read the statement. “Please just remember they’re real people – so let’s be kind and spread the love!”

On an episode of Aftersun, Love Island USA’s companion talk show, host Ariana Madix also made a statement to fans, saying directly: “Don’t be contacting people’s families. Don’t be doxxing people. Don’t be going on Islander’s pages and saying rude things.”

This isn’t the first time Love Island USA has called out such behaviour from viewers. A similar statement was made last year ahead of the season six reunion, which noted: “While we love your passion for [the Love Island USA cast], we ask that you always choose to be kind.”

Still, this summer saw viewer conduct reach new lows, with online harassment escalating to rather parasocial levels due to fanbase wars and a hypersurveillance of Islanders once they exited the villa – the latter often taking place in dedicated........

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