The concept of true crime started around the 16th century, when printers in Europe would sell pamphlets in order to notify the public about recently committed crimes. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that true crime became truly popular, and that was as a result of online media. Starting with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder’s podcast, “Serial,” which was praised for its creative format, where a new episode would be released every week in real time with Koenig and Snyder’s discoveries. This allowed audiences to build a deeper understanding of the crimes, and also allowed others to pursue similar undertakings in podcasting and media creation.
As mentioned previously, the main way that true crime has been able to spread so substantially was partially as a result of social media and online intrigue with popular cases. If an event generated enough publicity, it could end up being talked about on multiple different podcasts and platforms.
“I do sometimes seek out the more popular cases because I always want to learn more about them,” Berkeley High School junior Scout Wheat said.
Intrigue is another common reason people get interested in true crime. It is fascinating to hear about these situations, what caused them, and how they ended. True crime is used as a way to pass time and help with boredom like any other podcast or audiobook.
“It’s nice because I get motion-sick in cars, so it's something I listen to that distracts me,” BHS freshman Wilson Stoddard said.
True crime also helps teach people to be aware of their surroundings, and be more mindful about their interactions with others. As a result of the fact that the vast majority of physical crimes are committed against women, this could potentially allow for more awareness about safety precautions and recognizing possible warning signs.
Although, it is important to consider whether or not true crime is a healthy or accurate way of telling these real stories. Despite the possible ramifications of publicly monetizing crimes and trauma, it is also common to see re-tellings, in the form of movies or limited TV-shows, subtly fabricate certain elements of real life crimes in order to create more drama. Recent shows such as “Monster,” with season one covering the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, blew up all over social media, with “Monster” having such high viewership that it has continued for three additional seasons.
After watching or listening to an abundance of true crime, it is possible there may be mental and emotional ramifications, including things like paranoia.
“It can definitely have an impact on your mental health if that's all the media you're consuming,” Wheat said, “I have friends who got really into it and they started getting kind of paranoid about things.”
Listening to a multitude of episodes on crime can make it seem like murders and kidnappings are a common occurrence, which can prevent people from going out or doing things they enjoy. There are also individuals who start to have an emotional attachment to whoever they are learning about to the point where they have serious reactions when the story doesn’t end the way they want and forget that these are real stories.
For instance, Boston University researcher Kathryn Coduto did a study on the reaction to the Gabby Petito case. Petito was a van-life vlogger who went missing and whose case gained large amounts of attention on social media, with large amounts of people posting publicly that they blamed the boyfriend for her disappearance. This created large amounts of doubt and confusion for the people within the case, and is ultimately an example of true crime junkies going too far.
“A lot of people feel like true crime is sort of insensitive, like you're making entertainment out of horrible, horrible things that’ve happened, which is partially true, but I also think that it needs to be talked about,” BHS junior Eva Morris said.
Although learning about these cases can be beneficial in the sense that people are more cautious of their surroundings and know how to protect themselves, the negative effects it has can overpower the positive ones. Shows dramatize real events, it occasionally spreads fear instead of awareness, and people get too invested in a real case involving actual victims. Overall, the consequences of listening to true crime too often outweigh the benefits in the long term.