MEP Elections Vs Love Island: Are Malta’s Youth Prioritising Reality TV Over Their Future?
In less than three weeks, Malta will vote for its six candidates to represent Malta in the European Parliament. According to an EU-wide survey, one in every three people under the age of 30 say that they do not intend to vote, which is around 47% of the population.
On the contrary, the popular reality TV show Love Island Malta has skyrocketed with its viewership. Last year’s season premiered with an average of 170,000 views, with the show being watched primarily by 93% of 16–25-year-olds.
And judging from the reaction to last night’s premiere, it wouldn’t be surprising if Season 2 registers similar viewership numbers.
Let’s break it down. There are 39 candidates who want to represent Malta in Europe and make their voices heard, while almost 1,000 applications were received to get the chance to participate in Love Island Malta.
Both these candidates and Love Island contestants are in the public eye, but the difference is the first group are advocating for EU citizens’ rights and the other wants to find love and win a cash prize whilst being broadcasted on live television.
A quick comparison from Google Trends shows that from 13th- 20th May, ‘Love Island Malta’ was searched several times last week, peaking at 100 on the evening of the premiere. According to Google data, on the day ‘European elections Malta’ was only searched eight times.
Google Trends uses comparative data – meaning that on this evening, there were eight searches for ‘European elections Malta’ for every 100 searches for ‘Love Island Malta’.
The difference is stark. Even by such a quick comparison, it seems that the Maltese youth care more about the next bombshell than coming back to reality and thinking about what the future of Europe has in store for them.
Could it be because of the number of scandals the Maltese Islands have accumulated?
Or is it because youths do not want to have anything to do with the word ‘vote’ unless it means voting for their ideal Love Island couple?