How Big Is ‘Love Island USA’? More Than 10 Million People Are Already on Its App
How Big Is ‘Love Island USA’? More Than 10 Million People Are Already on Its App
《美国爱之岛》有多火？其应用程序用户已超 1000 万
String bikinis? Check. Extra sunscreen? Check. Walls of cameras so millions of Americans can watch your spicy summer flings happen in real time? Check. Love Island USA, where contestants make out, couple up, and fight while lounging around a neon-colored villa in swimwear, is currently nearing the “climax” of its eighth season. This summer’s biggest bombshell? The Love Island USA app, where levels of viewer engagement are so high that it crashed during the first vote.
比基尼？准备好了。防晒霜？准备好了。布满摄像头的墙壁，让数百万美国人能实时观看你那火辣的夏日恋情？也准备好了。《美国爱之岛》（Love Island USA）目前正接近其第八季的“高潮”，参赛者们穿着泳装在霓虹闪烁的别墅里亲热、配对、争吵。今年夏天最大的“重磅炸弹”是什么？是《美国爱之岛》的应用程序，其观众参与度高到在第一次投票时就导致服务器崩溃。
Fans of the real-time dating show relish controlling the action through their in-app votes, helping decide who couples up and who gets dumped. Fan votes happen around five times during each season. The votes let users pick their favorite couple, which exiled cast members they think should be brought back, and eventually cast a vote for which Islander pair should win the popularity contest and $100,000. Earlier in this season, for example, the duos who received the fewest votes from viewers for “favorite couple” were on the chopping block to be booted off the show.
这部实时恋爱真人秀的粉丝们热衷于通过应用内投票来掌控剧情走向，决定谁与谁配对，谁又会被淘汰。每一季大约会进行五次粉丝投票。这些投票让用户能够选出他们最喜欢的伴侣、决定哪些被淘汰的选手应该回归，并最终投票选出哪一对选手能赢得人气竞赛和 10 万美元奖金。例如，在本季早些时候，那些在“最受欢迎伴侣”投票中得票最少的组合，就面临着被踢出节目的风险。
While the main use of the app is for voting, users can also scroll through an Instagram-like feed of videoclips, photo shoots, and polls. And, of course, the Love Island USA app includes shopping links so the most fervent viewers can snatch some merch.
虽然该应用程序的主要用途是投票，但用户也可以浏览类似 Instagram 的信息流，查看视频片段、照片拍摄花絮和民意调查。当然，《美国爱之岛》应用还包含购物链接，让最狂热的观众可以抢购周边商品。
The Love Island USA app now has more than 10 million unique users, the show’s producers tell WIRED. Since this season’s premier in June, it has hit the number one spot in the iOS App Store’s Entertainment category nine times—a category it shares with giants like Netflix and TikTok—according to app analytics company Apptopia.
该节目的制作人告诉《连线》（WIRED）杂志，《美国爱之岛》应用程序目前拥有超过 1000 万独立用户。据应用分析公司 Apptopia 的数据显示，自今年 6 月本季开播以来，该应用已 9 次登上 iOS App Store 娱乐类榜单的第一名——与 Netflix 和 TikTok 等巨头同台竞技。
Love Island USA producers see the app as a critical component to keeping fans engaged, whether it’s through official votes or other polls. “More than anything, it’s reinforced for us how passionate this fan base is and how eager they are to make their voices heard,” says executive producer Bernie Schaeffer. “I mean, say what you want about this statistic, but we have more people voting on the Love Island USA app than we do in many political elections taking place across the country.”
《美国爱之岛》的制作人将该应用视为保持粉丝参与度的关键组成部分，无论是通过官方投票还是其他民意调查。“最重要的是，它向我们证明了这个粉丝群体是多么热情，以及他们有多渴望表达自己的声音，”执行制片人伯尼·谢弗（Bernie Schaeffer）说。“我的意思是，无论你怎么看待这个统计数据，我们在《美国爱之岛》应用上的投票人数，确实比全国许多政治选举的投票人数还要多。”
Fans of Love Island have to be glued to their TV screens constantly if they want all the juicy deets before casting a vote that could impact their favorite couples, since the main show airs five times a week and voting windows are open for only a few hours. “The show moves fast, and within hours of the public casting their votes, we’re already revealing and filming those results with the cast,” says Schaeffer.
《爱之岛》的粉丝如果想在投票影响他们喜爱的伴侣之前掌握所有精彩细节，就必须时刻紧盯电视屏幕，因为主节目每周播出五次，而投票窗口仅开放几个小时。“节目节奏很快，在公众投票后的几小时内，我们就会向选手揭晓结果并进行拍摄，”谢弗说。
The team has a road map before each season starts, in terms of fan vote moments. Even so, they are always ready to pivot and evolve that plan based on the ensuing drama as well as how fans are reacting on social media.
在每一季开始前，团队都会制定一份关于粉丝投票节点的路线图。即便如此，他们也随时准备根据随之而来的剧情发展以及粉丝在社交媒体上的反应，来调整和演变这一计划。
Schaeffer feels confident that this level of engagement provides a comprehensive look into how viewers are really feeling in the moment. “The voting pool consists of millions of people from all over the country, and we know with every vote we’re going to get a great sampling of the American public that’s watching,” he says. During a past season, the app received 1 million fan votes less than 10 minutes after an episode ended.
谢弗坚信，这种参与度能全面反映观众当下的真实感受。“投票池由来自全国各地的数百万人组成，我们知道每一次投票都能获得对美国观众群体的极佳抽样，”他说。在过去的一季中，该应用在某一集结束后不到 10 分钟内就收到了 100 万张粉丝投票。
While social media reactions provide the producers with a strong sense of what viewers want, direct votes for favorite castmates let viewers without big online presences have their say. “This show invites viewers to be an active participant at every turn. You can affect the storylines and outcomes onscreen, and I think as more and more people come to the show, they’ve been very enthusiastic about that interactive feature,” says Schaeffer. “At the end of the day, it’s all about following the story and what’s happening in the villa, so when America does get to vote, their decision is impactful.”
虽然社交媒体的反应让制作人能敏锐地感知观众的需求，但直接为喜爱的选手投票，让那些在网上没有大影响力的观众也能表达自己的意见。“这个节目邀请观众在每一个环节都成为积极的参与者。你可以影响屏幕上的故事情节和结果，我认为随着越来越多的人加入节目，他们对这种互动功能表现得非常热情，”谢弗说。“归根结底，一切都是为了跟随故事和别墅里发生的事情，所以当美国观众真正投票时，他们的决定是具有影响力的。”