What Love Island Can Teach Us About the Importance of the Word “Like”

For connoisseurs of dating reality TV, the arrival of warm weather means one thing: Love Island, by far one of Britain’s most significant cultural imports, is back. (There are offshoots, including Australia and the United States, but the UK version remains the blueprint.) The premise is simple: a group of attractive, tanned young people flock to a “villa” somewhere very warm (usually Spain or South Africa) and attempt to couple up for love—and money and social media fame. At its heart, the show is a game...