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Why We Love Reality TV Shows

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois State chapter.

 

With shows as popular as “The Bachelor” and “Keeping Up with The Kardashians,” there aren’t many people who don’t tune into these drama-filled shows. So why do so many of these same people hate drama but love watching these shows? Here are some of the main reasons we all tune into reality shows.

  1. They give us something to talk about

Since reality shows are so popular, people will always be talking about the latest episodes in public places, so it’s easy to meet someone else who has watched the same shows as you. When we can connect with someone over a show we both watch, it makes it easier to talk to them and make new friends.

  1. The competition and drama

As human beings, we are competitive by nature. We want to be the best and have only the best. So when we see shows like “The Bachelor” and “Survivor,” we love watching the contestants compete for love or survival. We love having the chance to pick a person or team to win and cheer them on. We connect with our favorites and get offended if something goes wrong.

  1. The escapism

In today’s world, it’s hard to stay truly happy and let our minds shut off. With reality shows, we are allowed to just watch the screen and not think about what’s happening around us. It gives us time to just watch some normal people do crazy things to be on TV. Shows like “Jersey Shore” are a great example of this. It didn’t matter if you were fully involved in the show because nothing was ever truly happening.

Whether you watch reality shows for these reasons or other reasons, they will always be around to entertain us and make our lives better. No one will fully understand why we love reality TV, but we do know we love watching it. That will never change.  

 

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