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rogueslayer452It's not a secret that the true crime online community is quite controversial for numerous reasons. From being horribly invasive and exploitative to spreading misinformation, whether intentionally or accidentally from not doing proper research, and even treating real life people of these serious and horrific events as something fictional or even something to idolize, it's understandable that people are uneasy and disgusted with the unethical and deplorable way some in the true crime community have conducted themselves in various online spaces by crossing that line in taking things too far.
It is also understandable why people gravitate towards these kinds of topics. I, myself, am no stranger to the subject of true crime and unsolved mysteries, having watching shows such as City Confidential and Forensic Files and even watched some YouTube videos covering similar topics every now and again. There is an inherent fascination, or rather morbid curiosity, surrounding it. Not only of being aware of certain cases (as one would naturally be if you're watching news coverage in real time) but also trying to understand the why. Why would someone do something like this? What is going through someone's head? Could they have been helped? What could have been done differently? It's the same thought process one might have when watching a horror movie, which is probably where the line blurs for some who do unfortunately treat true crime as something fictional to fixate on, or similar to that of a "train wreck" or "car crash" incident where your curiosity to such disasters lead to some viewing it as a spectacle than anything. While it is natural to try to understand the darker side of human nature and the psychological elements of that to better understand our world and who we are as human beings, there needs to be an understanding of boundaries and practicing basic decency, respect, and sensitivity when approaching these particular topics. Sadly, this doesn't always happen by those who are just looking to monetize content.
Whether it be in official documentaries or YouTube videos or any kind of online post, it's best to take them with a grain of salt since most of them are done with a certain bias, and doing your own research by cross referencing information is better to get the full picture than just relying on the words of a singular source.
It is also understandable why people gravitate towards these kinds of topics. I, myself, am no stranger to the subject of true crime and unsolved mysteries, having watching shows such as City Confidential and Forensic Files and even watched some YouTube videos covering similar topics every now and again. There is an inherent fascination, or rather morbid curiosity, surrounding it. Not only of being aware of certain cases (as one would naturally be if you're watching news coverage in real time) but also trying to understand the why. Why would someone do something like this? What is going through someone's head? Could they have been helped? What could have been done differently? It's the same thought process one might have when watching a horror movie, which is probably where the line blurs for some who do unfortunately treat true crime as something fictional to fixate on, or similar to that of a "train wreck" or "car crash" incident where your curiosity to such disasters lead to some viewing it as a spectacle than anything. While it is natural to try to understand the darker side of human nature and the psychological elements of that to better understand our world and who we are as human beings, there needs to be an understanding of boundaries and practicing basic decency, respect, and sensitivity when approaching these particular topics. Sadly, this doesn't always happen by those who are just looking to monetize content.
Whether it be in official documentaries or YouTube videos or any kind of online post, it's best to take them with a grain of salt since most of them are done with a certain bias, and doing your own research by cross referencing information is better to get the full picture than just relying on the words of a singular source.
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Date: 2025-05-07 12:30 am (UTC)Oh yeah, the victim-blaming does get really bad, which is astonishing to see but sadly not at all surprising. I get wanting to understand some cases, especially ones where there's limited information or is extremely complicated and trying to piece things together for things that are unresolved or inconclusive, but people do tend to take things too far. This isn't even exclusive to the true crime community, as people online in various spaces tend to try to be amateurish sleuths and more often than not they're just incredibly bad at it or come up with the wildest conclusions and are very invasive and insensitive to something that they shouldn't get involved with in the first place.
And I agree, in these kinds of situations people need to take a step back and just focus on analyzing and theorizing fictional crimes rather than actual true crimes.