An obsession with being a true crime detective is happening on TikTok, after Gabby Petito, a #VanLife influencer, went missing while on a road trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, in August. (On Sunday, the FBI found human remains that they believe to be Peitito’s.) Over the past month, many TikTok users scoured Petito’s and Laundrie’s social media profiles for clues and created megapopular videos.
- Petito’s Instagram, which only had around 1,000 followers at the time of her disappearance, has more than 854,000 followers now.
- The tag for her name on TikTok has over half a billion views.
Miranda Baker, a person of interest in the case who said she had given a ride to Laundrie, posted on TikTok first before reporting her clue to police.
What’s driving the frenzy: TikTok’s powerful recommendation system enables any video to go viral when it’s amplified by users, whether the content is about sorority rush or a potentially grisly crime.
- Read this Twitter thread for a breakdown on how TikTok users turned Gabby Petito’s story into social media virality. –SQ
