Is social media the biggest influence on the glorification and sexualisation of infamous murderers?

The twenty-first century has given us some very amazing inventions, such as GPS

navigation, e-readers, and smartphones. But the social media era is definitely the most

significant contribution of the twenty-first century. Whether you are 12 or 60, there is a

platform for everyone when it comes to social media, which is a part of practically everyone's

daily life. And while social media can be a pleasant way to communicate with people from all

over the world, it also has a negative side. The addictive nature of social media has been

amply demonstrated. It can cause obsessive overconsumption, cause the same withdrawal

symptoms that recovering drug addicts experience, and trigger the same chemicals in our

bodies as drugs like meth or heroin. It is simple to understand how someone could easily

develop an addiction to social media given that over 4.26 billion people use it daily and that

apps like Facebook, tik tok, and Twitter are widely used. In addition to this, it is simple to see

how opinions and trends spread as well. It can be difficult to resist the urge to do the

activities that other people frequently discuss. They can be entertaining or hazardous.

True crime is a very well-liked pastime for many people worldwide and on social media. A

non-fiction literary, podcast, or film genre called "true crime" was first defined as one in which

the author investigates a real-life crime and the specific behaviours of the real people

involved. In spite of the fact that over 200 podcast channels have been posting virtually

weekly since 2015, the popularity of true crime has recently increased on social media sites

like YouTube, Tik Tok, and Twitter. There are numerous explanations for the rise in the

popularity of real crime, one of which being the rising number of users on YouTube and Tik

Tok. Each week, cases are posted by creators such as Bella Fiori, Kendall Rae, and John B

Allen,

However, the foundation of tik toks and real crime films completely changed in 2019 when

cosmetics artist Bailey Sarian, 33, posted a video combining her two loves: true crime and

makeup. A man named Chris Watts brutally murdered his wife and children before dumping

them in an oil tank at his workplace after becoming involved with another woman. Bailey

uploaded a video of herself applying makeup while discussing Chris Watts, and the video

received 5 million views in the first month after it was posted. Many people thought Bailey

was the reason Netflix made the documentary about the case the following year, as well as

the JonBenet Ramsay documentary "Casting JonBenet,

" which tells the tale of the young

pageant girl, who mysteriously went missing under her parents’ supervision one night.

In addition to continuing to post her "murder, mystery, and makeup Monday" videos, Baileys'

video received over 10 million views and skyrocketed to 6.62 million subscribers. She also

hosts a podcast called Dark History that delves deeply into some of the darkest periods in

history, including witches, cannibalism, haunted places and people, and even poisoning. The

hypothesis that social media has the most significant impact on the glorification and

sexualization of murderers will be investigated in this article. For this paper, a variety of

research techniques were used, and both quantitative and qualitative sources—such as asurvey, comments, content shared on social media, and conclusions drawn from online

sources—were used. The research's primary conclusions were that although a small fraction

of people worldwide glorify and sexualize killers, social media is not the main factor

influencing this behaviour.

In addition to examining whether social media plays the biggest role in the glorification and

sexualization of murderers, especially notorious ones, this paper also looks at potential

secondary causes for the surge in popularity of primarily male killers. This was accomplished

through both primary and secondary methods because it was thought that there was a

smaller pool of pertinent material that may assist in providing an answer to this topic.

An online and in-person survey was the first main research technique used. The survey was

created online with the "SurveyMonkey" software. This made it possible for the questions to

be multiple choice with an optional comment field, allowing exam takers to express their

individual ideas if they so desired. The questionnaire was sent over a number of social

media sites, including Facebook, Snapchat, and Tik Tok, and questions were also asked

directly to participants who were picked at random.

An additional component of the study for this report was reading internet journals and

articles. Online public works reports were examined during the study phase to provide a

more qualified perspective on the issue. Keywords and details on specific components of

this report that were pertinent to the query were used to read and select the resources.

This analysis employed qualitative data, which included comments and content posted on

various social media sites like Twitter and tik tok, making it simple to access information

through likes, comments, and shares. The time frame for all data is between 2019 and 2022.

The responses to each study approach were recorded and contrasted with opposing

elements in order to analyse the data gathered.

The primary shortcoming of this analysis was its inability to adequately connect the two

important factors—social media and murderers

Murderers and other criminals receive a lot of attention thanks to social media; this may be

because more TikTok and Twitter content providers are writing more frequently and in-depth

posts about them.

Given the apparent increase in interest in true crime over the past four years, it's intriguing to

try and understand the source of this obsession. According to theory, it stems from our

innate desire to learn the who, what, where, why, when, and how of situations. We also

seem to enjoy learning what motivates criminals to act the way they do. and to better

safeguard our loved ones around us as well as ourselves

It is common to find “thirst trap” edits of serial killers or actors in the role of serial killers on

TikTok, research found at least 4 videos supporting certain killers like Lyle and Erik

Menendez it is clear from the number of likes and the comments which included things like‘Lyle and Erik both deserved better”

,

“I feel bad for them. I don’t believe they are

cold-blooded killers” shows that people feel bad for the men who viciously murdered both of

their parents to gain financial wealth, however, this case was in 1996 and lost a lot of

popularity until an account on tik tok posted some edits of them and how “beautiful” they

were.

Some, however, contend that the glorification and sexualization of killers is mostly unrelated

to social media and is instead caused by the reconstructions and documentaries produced

by major TV networks like Netflix and Sky. For instance, nearly 50 real crime documentaries

and reconstructions are currently available to stream on Netflix.

However, Netflix and other streaming services are notorious for casting well-known and

reasonably attractive men as well-known serial killers. Examples include Ross Lynch as

Jeffrey Dahmer in "My friend, Dahmer,

" Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in the 2019 film "Extremely

wicked, shockingly evil and vile,

" and Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in "Monster: the Jeffrey

Dahmer story.

" Could this be the rationale behind the exaltation? The thought of hiring

well-known individuals who have a following excites their admirers and motivates them to

watch the programme or movie. Without a question, the performers were excellent and did a

fantastic job in their roles, but is it the initial attraction from their fans that bring in the views?

This is conceivable since, according to the survey, 50% of respondents, an attractive main

actor would make them more willing to watch a reconstruction or case-based movie. This

may be for a variety of reasons, but for some people, the familiarity of a face in the midst of

an upsetting circumstance is comforting. Sometimes, though, it can have a severe negative

impact. For instance, despite the fact that Evan Peters did an excellent job portraying Jeffrey,

many people now call him Jeffrey. They are two distinct individuals, and Peters in no way

resembles Dahmer. The same survey revealed that respondents thought they would be

more likely to watch the reconstruction/documentary if it was trending on social media.

This study sought to determine whether social media is the primary cause of serial killers

and other murders being exalted and sexualized in modern society. The popularity of true

crime in general and the release of true crime documentaries and reconstructions on larger

streaming platforms may very well be the cause. The report also found that the percentage

of true crime fans and the general public who glorify and sexualize serial killers is actually

quite small. However, the question of why serial killers and murderers are glorified and

sexualized remains.