Lately I’ve been feeling like reality TV is less fun to watch than it used to be. I used to love waiting to tune in every week to find out what crazyness and drama the cast members on shows like the Bachelor, Big Brother, Amazing Race, Dancing With The Stars, etc. would get up to.

Over the years, my preferences in TV have changed quite a bit- I mean come on people, who didn’t want a little Temptation Island or the ORIGINAL Road Rules seasons back in 2002? However, another thing that has changed is how much exposure these shows have gotten.

It used to be that the show was the show, and episodes would be much talked about after the fact (Jenna & Heidi with the Oreos and peanut butter on Survivor, anybody?), but it didn’t go much past that.

With social media and online news outlets rapidly growing in popularity in recent years, I feel like shows have become more about the hype around the show and less about the show. Yes, it’s crappy reality TV, but I miss just enjoying the competition/drama and nothing else.

Now, everywhere I look there are spoilers and scandals popping up, the contestants’ backgrounds and personal decisions are constantly under scrutiny, and I find that my perceptions of my “favorite” contestants tend to change as soon as I start reading a message board or a hashtag stream on Twitter.

Every season I say, I’m just going to enjoy the show and not look at what’s happening online, but it’s becoming unavoidable. I literally cannot go on Twitter (follow me?), watch the news or check my email without seeing gossip or speculation or freakin’ conspiracy theories.

It has come to the point where I don’t even want to watch certain shows anymore – The Bachelor is a prime example. ABC Message Boards and bloggers like Reality Steve expose all the behind the scenes action and the bad editing and shady contestants’ backgrounds, and I’m just over it.

Does anyone else feel like this?

(As for the title of this post, come on, if you are currently between the ages of 18-25, I know there is a good chance you watched Moolah Beach. Who couldn’t love host JD Roth? Also, go Green Team!)