Unpacking the Love Island fixation, and what it says about Gen Z media habits
A dispatch from our intern, Emilia Kim.
This summer, The Up and Up launched our first-ever fellowship, featuring six weeks of programming created and led by our incredible intern Emilia Kim. We’re lucky to have her.
Emilia, a rising sophomore at Johns Hopkins, has been meeting with our fellows regularly and held a listening session with them last week — focusing first on entertainment and media habits. Her readout is below.
Be on the lookout for more analysis and insights from Emilia over the next couple of months, including part two on how Gen Z watches, listens, and scrolls.
Unpacking my generation’s Love Island fixation — and what it says about our media habits
Every few months, like clockwork, my generation discovers a show, floods social media with clips and commentary, organizes watch parties around air dates, and then forgets about it the moment the finale airs. Love Island, Euphoria, and Stranger Things have all cycled through: clips flood our feeds, only to vanish soon after.
I’ve been curious about this pattern. We’re all watching the same shows at the same time, but why? Is it the algorithm, a need for escapism, or something else entirely?
To find out, I hosted a listening session focused on entertainment and media with our Up and Up fellows from all across the country. I asked them: What are you watching right now? Why? And, importantly, with whom?
That last question turned out to be the most vital of the night. I quickly realized the pattern I noticed was grounded in a collective appetite for conversation and community. In a world riddled with isolation and anxiety, having a common TV show became a quick way to form new friendships.