Netflix’s latest reality dating gambit is Who Likes My Follower?, a six-episode Spanish series where three social media influencers are paired with one of their followers and tasked with guiding them through a teeming field of potential love matches, helping them to narrow it down, and being there for them with some real life reactions when the matches finally get made. (If they’re made, that is.) Whether or not these influencers manage to help their followers, there’s already plenty of narcissism on tap.
: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: “Social networks are yin and yang,” Who Likes My Follower? host Lujan Arguelles says. “They have pros and cons. Tinder, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit have brought the shiest out of their shells. But you won’t get your fairy tale love story just by hitting the ‘like’ button.”
The Gist: For the tragically online, Who Likes My Follower? has devised a different means of making a match. We’re introduced to three social media influencers, a title justified with hard stats. There’s Jedet (500,000+ followers), who proudly recites a lengthy list of her cosmetic surgery procedures and says “I don’t like social climbers, girls that are rude, or with bad dye jobs.” Aroyitt (3,750,000 followers), introduced as the most important gamer in Spain, says dating in the 21st century sucks because the sheer availability of options means there’s less respect and less love. And while climate and animal activist Jonan Wiergo (nearly one million followers) says “Jonan doesn’t get mad,” he does refer to himself in the third person.
Lujan and Jedet, Aroyitt, and Jonan gather in the fitted-out warehouse space that serves as the Who Likes headquarters. It’s time for the influencers to meet their chosen followers. The “pupils” will be tasked with shepherding and coaching on this journey toward potential bliss. Jonan is paired with Apolo. “I like being adored,” he says casually. “But there’s a limit, too.” For Aroyitt, there’s Pixxbe, who refers to herself as “bitcherella.” She also admits that she’s sort of toxic. And for Jedet’s pupil, there’s Sergio, who asks the producers if his hair looks OK before meeting the group. “I’m usually the center of attention.” Around these parts, vanity is not in short supply.
Each follower will eventually have a pool of seven potential daters, but first they have to pick them through a clunky process involving a partial reveal, offstage audio messages, consultation with their respective influencer, and the choice to “block” or “unblock” someone. There are questions asked – “Do you play first-person shooting games?” – and tattoos are compared. Compliments and air kisses fly. And at long last, each follower has determined their pool of seven daters. What drama will the ensuing round of group dates bring?
What Shows Will it Remind You Of? Netflix’s MO for uncovering the next reality dating show sensation seems to involve throwing every random (Sexy Beasts), awkward (Dating Around) or even prurient (Dated & Related) concept at the wall and seeing if any of it sticks. Given that method, we’ll see how much staying power Who Likes My Follower? has.
Our Take: Initially, Who Likes My Follower? can’t pick a lane on the narcissism motorway. Is this show a platform for the influencers, who have been chosen because they built their personal online fiefdoms by parading and selfie-ing their way to social media renown? They often seem to think it is. Or is Who Likes about the followers, a group that feels more like the typical reality dating show contestant but with the added qualifier of being Very Online? That would be true of Pixxbe, certainly, who quickly establishes a rapport with Aroyitt through their love of gaming. But for Apolo and Sergio, they initially just seem like two handsome guys who are on a dating show to be seen and meet potential matches. Apolo has already established that he likes being adored, and in a later episode, Jedet will attempt to transform Sergio from a fuckboy into a loverboy. So far, however, there isn’t a whole lot of coaching or shepherding happening, which suggests Who Likes My Follower? might spend a lot of its time with mutual self-absorption. Beyond the initial hook – OK, all of these people are comfortable with an active in online dating, and the influencers are people who thrive inside the small screen of a phone – trying to hang all of that on the format of a generic reality dating show featuring various types of dates, recurring elimination rounds, and concurrent bursts of drama leaves a lot of gaps and questions about this show’s reason to exist.
Sex and Skin: Nothing obvious beyond a few montages featuring all of the smooch-a-thons to come, the daters and/or followers performing swimsuit massages, and lots of necking in hottubs.
Parting Shot: Apolo is making the emoji cringe face. Out of his pool of daters, he applied his first “Super Like” tag to Adrian. But when they repair to a cocktail lounge for their first date, there are three martini glasses resting on the bar. “I think you deserve to know the truth,” Adrian says, as another guy joins them…
Sleeper Star: Spanish broadcaster and television presenter Lujan Arguelles is adept at being the glue here, filling in the initial awkwardness between influencer and follower and gently throwing in a few jokes at the expense of all of the self-love on display in these proceedings.
Most Pilot-y Line: Pixxbe is a case study in contemporary romantic advenurism. “When people ask me if I’m straight or bi, I don’t know what to say. I don’t write off experiences before even trying them. I can’t say if I like being with girls or not because I haven’t tried. So before I write it off, I think I need to give it a try.” And to that end, Pixxbe’s pool of “daters” is divided pretty evenly between women and men.
Our Call: SKIP IT. The novelty of people who live and love online in the land of the Aubergine emoji bringing it all IRL for a chance at forever bliss isn’t interesting enough to elevate Who Likes My Follower? above reality dating generica.