Gabby Petito and Social Media
Carla Paz
The disappearance and death of Gabby Petito, a twenty-two-year-old woman from Long Island, has captivated the nation’s attention. As Gabby Petito’s disappearance became a national news story, social media users flooded the internet with theories and tips regarding her location. Social media provided vital information that helped locate Gabby’s body. However, it also made many question the way social media treats horrific cases as entertainment.
When Gabby Petito’s case started to gain popularity on social media, many used her disappearance as a way to gain followers and views. For example, a TikToker named Kelly Ferro made videos about her perspective on the case as a medium. She claims that because of her psychic abilities, she “helped'' locate Gabby’s body. Those who, like Ferro, used Gabby’s death to gain clout display a deeper problem rooted within social media. The use of social media in this case displays the narcissistic and insensitive way people treat serious cases. It should not have to be said that profiting off of someone’s death is horrible. Yes, spreading awareness about a situation like this is important, and allows for crucial discoveries. However, there’s a line between informing and profiting.
While social media users were taking on the role of detectives to solve Gabby’s disappearance, misinformation spread. Some falsely linked Gabby’s case to a newlywed couple named Crystal Turner and Kylen Schulte. The couple was found dead in August. Social media managed to link the cases. Police, on the other hand, found no correlation between the two. This led to misinformation being spread throughout the internet. Spreading false information about a serious case can lead to public confusion, and can cause harm to the investigation. Misinformation can spread like a wildfire without proper fact-checking.
Though it is important to point out the ways social media failed Gabby Petito, it is also important to acknowledge the positive role it played. If it weren’t for the widespread attention this case got, investigators might not have made such rapid discoveries. Thanks to social media, investigators found Gabby’s body and pieced together the case’s timeline. A tip from a van life Youtuber couple led to the discovery of Gabby Petito’s body. The couple had footage of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie’s van, which helped authorities locate her body in Grand Teton National Park. Because of the footage, authorities found Gabby’s body and determined her cause of death. This tip provided her family with closure. Another woman, Miranda Baker, claimed in a TikTok that she and her boyfriend picked up a hitchhiking Brian Laundrie near the national park. Her tip helped investigators piece together a timeline of events before and after Gabby’s death.
Social media is a double-edged sword. It can lead to positives, such as Petito’s discovery. It can also lead to negatives, such as people using her death for their fifteen minutes of fame. Though there are many ways that social media failed Gabby, it would be unfair to reduce social media’s role to negatives. In reality, social media is in the hands of its user. What’s really important is Gabby Petito and her family. She was only twenty-two when she died. Gabby dreamt of traveling the U.S. with her fiance. Sadly, these dreams were taken away from her. Her family will always live with the pain of losing her so young, never knowing what her future would have entailed. Gabby’s family is fighting every day for answers about their daughter’s death. As of now, they have no answers.
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