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HARROWING testimonies, extracts from police custody, accounts of sordid criminal cases... this kind of content is hugely successful on TikTok. It's a popular genre that Netflix is also betting on massively.
In a matter of seconds, these kinds of videos captivate internet users, racking up tens of millions of views. "True crime" stories have always been popular, whether in serial magazines, radio shows, films, TV programs or documentaries, as demonstrated by the success of the mini-series "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" on Netflix.
According to a study by Pew Research Center, "true crime" podcasts are set to be the most listened-to genre in the USA in 2022. And crime story fever has even reached the sphere of social networks. Particularly on TikTok, where billions of pieces of content featuring true crime continue to generate buzz. The recent Lucy Letby case is the latest example, with the associated hashtag having racked up over 163.2 million views on the platform at the time of writing.
And this case is far from the only criminal investigation that internet users are dissecting on social media. On TikTok, users can juggle several hashtags to find these stories told in different ways. The keyword #truecrimetiktok has more than 14.5 billion views, while #crimetok and #crimestories have 18 billion and 5 billion views respectively.
A documentary format...as seen on TV
Among these different "universes" on TikTok, content includes a plethora of victim testimonials that can generate millions of views, such as excerpts from the TV show "I Survived...", broadcast between 2008 and 2015 in the United States. Divided into several videos, some episodes can be viewed, at least partially, on TikTok, with some of the content having generated up to 6.5 million views. With videos lasting over a minute and that many views, creators can then monetise their content and earn a certain amount of money.
The "true crime" trend is so popular that some users are making their livelihood from it. Anonymous accounts such as "tru3crimet0k" and "Charley Bourne True Crime," and even media outlets such as "dailymailcrime," devote their content to recounting these crime stories. And they're almost always a major hit, generating thousands or even millions of views. However, some of the content can take a sordid turn, as in the case of Sarah Boone, charged with the death of her boyfriend, who was locked in a suitcase in 2020. A video went viral on TikTok, and was picked up by several creators, who generated millions of views with this sensitive and disturbing content.
@beeastronaut #greenscreenvideo #sarahboone #truecrime #letstalkaboutit #foxnews #cnnnews #dmv #lgbt #lgbtq #transmenoftiktok #ftm #dmvtiktok #suitcasekiller #crimetok #conspiracytok #fyp #tiktok #truecrimetiktok #crimestories #crimescene #dmvlife #conspirancytheory ♬ original sound - BeeAstronaut
Sarah Boone, Lucy Letby and Jeffrey Dahmer aren't the only notorious criminals who have captured the imagination of internet users. The Menendez brothers' case caused a sensation on TikTok, thanks to excerpts from the trial replayed online, and to storytime" videos in which certain creators recount the case in question on camera, using photos and excerpts. On the Chinese platform, the hashtags #menendezbrothers, #erikmenendez, #lylemenendez and #menendez boast 1.2 billion, 1.4 billion, 1.2 billion and 633.3 million views respectively. The frenzy surrounding this case has even been noticed by Netflix, which will air the series "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" in 2024, following on from "Monster - Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." The two brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez, convicted of murdering their parents at the head of a $14 million fortune, accused their father of sexual abuse. – ETX Daily Up, August 25, 2023
