What do you listen to on your way to school? Spotify’s morning wake-up playlist, maybe? Lo-fi hip hop beats? The “Hamilton” soundtrack, on repeat, as you have done since fourth grade?
Or perhaps you indulge in some good-old non-fiction. Maybe you start your day with stories about criminals—delving into their backgrounds, their conclusions—as if you yourself were a detective on the case. Maybe you keep your air pods in all day.
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. A Pew Research Study concluded that 24 percent of the top 451 Spotify podcasts make true crime content. Despite its popularity, listeners should watch out—all that “true” crime may be warping your reality.
It’s called “the Serial Effect,” a term derived from a popular true crime podcast. It is “a new media-induced effect that stems from the unique features of the true crime podcast and the unique social positioning of those podcasts as true,” according to the New Mexico Law Review. This phenomenon creates a double-edged sword: an increase of fear and interest in crime.
Both, unsurprisingly, are not good for people. A study by the International Institute for Society and Health found that fear of crime is linked to reduced mental and physical health. It can also cause an increase in agoraphobic behavior, with sufferers becoming more mistrustful and avoidant of the world.
After all, true crime does a lot of distorting the truth. Many podcast, books, and documentaries make critical factual errors– being more dedicated to entertainment than accuracy.
On top of its inaccuracy, true crime can mess with court evidence and proceedings. The Hall-Mills murders of 1922, for example, ended up swamped in dubious evidence due to public interest. Even the predecessor to the Serial Effect, the “CSI Effect,” describes how popular police and law dramas have influenced juror perceptions.
At the end of the day, the basis of true crime is to turn tragedy into entertainment. Though there is evidence that modern podcasts work to orient themselves ethically, true crime has faced constant scrutiny for exploiting private stories.
This is not to say that nothing good has ever come from true crime. Of course, some media has helped in solving the murder cases they cover. Some even raise awareness of racial discrimination and other pitfalls of the American Justice System. However, these benefits are rare and are based heavily in the work of real investigators.
So, if you enjoy true crime podcasts you may want to limit your listening time. The effects of true crime don’t stop at its contributors– and it may be coming for you next.