The Psychological Impact of Consuming True Crime

The hit show that spawned modern true crime has been around for eight years. The genre it begat has become a full-on phenomenon in the last ten years. There are a lot of different types of series based on podcasts. Some true crime fans report that this influx is positive, and that they have found solace in their favorite grim tales. What about everybody else?

It has been shown that consumption of crime news can lead to larger fears of becoming a victim, and for those who are survivors of violence, it can be a lot to take. The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was one of the most popular series on the streaming service. Families of the victims found it distressing to have audiences discuss the case again.

For Dahmer, TikTok seems to be the show's forum of choice. The serial long-haulers use the site. Two days after the premiere of the show, fans created r/serialpodcast to discuss the 1999 murder of teenager Hae Min Lee and to debate the culpability of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. The sub has 75k members today. Many former users came back to the space after a judge threw out Syed's murder conviction. Others were still here.

It's not clear whether it's a good idea to dredge up the troubling details of old cases in those places. The justice system has played its own role in the case of Syed and other cases. Police time can be wasted by citizen sleuths. All that investigation can be taxing on the people doing it.

Eight years ago, Ben Coccio left the show. The 47-year-old film maker was horrified by the show. He says you want to talk to people about it and be there in that moment of mystery. The subreddit became more and more divided. Coccio was trying to lower his blood pressure without medication when he started posting about serial. He says that he was hyper aware of things that made him feel manic. Arguments with people on the sub were adding to that. The group split into those who thought Syed was innocent and those who thought he was guilty.

You can't call the prosecutor in Baltimore because you don't have anyone else to do it. They won't listen to me. You just put it out on the users of the subreddit.