“Come on in, guys!” shouts Jeff Probst. “Are you ready for your next Head of Household competition?” says Julie Chen. Each hosts one of TV’s best-known reality television shows: Big Brother and Survivor. Due to both shows’ popularity, an online nation has formed. Fans spread all across Instagram and Kik Messenger join together to form the Big Brother Instagram (BBIG), the Survivor Instagram (SSIG) and the Big Brother Kik (BBKIK) communities.

Despite BBIG and BBKIK being centered around the same show, they are extremely different. BBKIK revolves around mostly playing Big Brother on the app “Kik Messenger.”

“I would say that what attracted me to BBKIK was the feeling you got from it. You get to bring all of these people together to play a game that you all love. I respect the game in its entirety,”  Jimmy Alvarado, a BBKIK player and host of @bb.realityy on Instagram said. “Some benefits I got from hosting in the community were that not every season would be the same so one would never be bored, and every new player can always bring something different to the table. I definitely would recommend people to play along with me. I think the game is something [you] can really enjoy and explore different methods of winning. That’s why I respect the game so much.”

Fans are able to dip their feet into all three communities by simply playing one of each game because each game can bring something different to the existing concept of the original show. Playing these games on only one app is much easier than flipping back and forth between two, which is why most people become part of only one single community.

“I saw a game on my personal [account] and I decided to play it. I didn’t like playing in the game on my personal account, so I decided to create my own [reality game] account,” said Ethan Williams, a SSIG player and host of @thatrealitygame on Instagram. “I loved the idea of hosting and soon, my account became more and more popular. Mainly, I stick around because of [my account’s] popularity.”

Along with playing and hosting games, BBIG, SSIG and BBKIK members also make video and picture edits about their favorite Big Brother houseguests or Survivor castaways. An edit is simply a picture or a video consisting of one person (or clips of said person) with filters, text and effects layered on top.

“I love Big Brother, and when I found out there was a fandom for it on Instagram, I said ‘Sign me up!’ I joined and then I was almost immediately hooked. I enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy hosting and playing games,”  Brendan Foster, a BBIG player and host of @iconicreality on Instagram said. “I made so many friends from joining and having a great expierence [in the fandom]. Anyone that loves Big Brother or any other reality TV show should join.”

Any fan of reality TV would feel right at home in the fandoms. The people within them are friendly, kind and willing to show the ropes of how to play the game(s). Many past Survivor and Big Brother players have taken notice to these accounts, and some have even played in them. Monica Padilla, who played in seasons 19 and 31 of Survivor, played in and won Williams’ first ever season, based around the first TV season Padilla herself was a part of.

Survivor and Big Brother tie together fans from around the world, and these communities are no exception. Many people have formed friendships that will last a lifetime. These games have sparked cliques to form between people on Instagram. These cliques will often be seen playing the same games together.

“When I joined BBIG, I mainly joined because I wanted to find an escape from the real world, and I thought about joining a fandom. Big Brother is my favorite show, so I thought that it would be the best option for me,” Drew Yauger, a BBIG player and host of @realitychachki on Instagram said. “It helped me increase my leadership skills and helped me find purpose in life.”