THE INTERNET’S OBSESSION WITH TRUE CRIME

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Today, we’re talking about the internet’s obsession with true crime.

 

Specifically, we are talking about that through the lens of the tragic death of Gabby Petito.

True crime has been essentially white-washed by the outrage of white people who become obsessed when people who look like them go missing. Those that produce the content are white. Those that consume the content are white. And the second a victim is white, white people are all over it. But I think what’s even sadder about this truth is that the internet banded together to help authorities find Gabby Petito’s body, but so often they do little to bring attention to even more bizarre cases that happen every day to POC.

The loss of any human life is horrifying but it seems particularly disturbing that the revelation of this death played out in real-time in front of our eyes on Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram. What’s even more difficult to wrap our minds around is why this case got so much attention and other cases of similar tragedy do not.

THE GAME OF TRUE CRIME

 

In 2012, a friend of a friend was killed walking home from a bar about a block away from my house in Boulder, Colorado. Instagram was barely becoming popular and Twitter was for nerds. During this time, I was working at the county courthouse in Boulder so I was able to sit in on the trial. Each day I came home to share the news of the court proceedings with my roommates. That was literally the only way people knew what was happening beyond the basics of what the news outlets were reporting. In just nine years time, the way we consume instances of true crime seems to have rapidly changed. It’s become almost like a game, playing out for those on the internet in real-time to comment on. And while there are incredibly positive aspects of how the internet was able to assist authorities in finding Ms. Petito, it’s hard to imagine how her parents felt watching images of her daughter following a domestic violence dispute being picked apart by literal strangers on YouTube.

The internet connects us, it drives education, provides valuable resources, the list goes on. But the internet is also filled with strangers with microphones. People who speak when they have no authority to do so. People who troll and cast blame and accusations. People who take a very real, very sad moment in someone’s life and trivialize it for entertainment purposes. I don’t blame you for being sucked into the Gabby Petito case. I mean, damn, I’m still refreshing wondering if they found Brian yet. But truthfully, I mostly wanted to talk about the intersection of real-life and internet culture. Because sometimes it’s blurry – and for some, deeply, personally painful.

if you are interested in learning more about the tens of thousands of black women who go missing in our country every year…

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Please consider looking at Our Black Girls

which highlights each of these cases.

and everything else…

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  • Would You Date Him starter packs.

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  • Nirvana’s Nevermind turned 30.

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    @IvyKungu

    @JustInHere2021

    @afuasowusu

    @annevclark

    @fearlustpride
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  • K have a good night!