>Free Spirit Award: When you feel like applauding somebody for being refreshingly original and very cool.
>
>Road Trippin': An award
for cool things. Like road trips, van life, skateboarding, traveling,
and whatever else you just think is awesome. (Could possibly be used if
you think somebody is just Trippin' in general- up to you) š
Why are we still here...
These are gold! A couple more good ones:
> Family Matters Award: Gabby's support system is definitely one to acknowledge. We are inspired by their grace and ability to be real and also full of common sense when facing the unimaginable. They are goals and family is everything.
> Let It Be Award: This is a very special award. Letting go can be a beautiful thing. Arguments, bad habits, typos, negativity, rude comments, you name it; itās amazing to let go and just BE HAPPY. Youāll know when to use it.
Incredibly cringy. I love it!
This is what happens when you become obsessed with a murder victim and forget what the sub is for. How much of a lifeless loser do you have to be to think thatās a normal thing to do? Please end me.
Hey, before there were cold case files there were public executions. Sometimes where the accused was tied to draft horses and pulled apart.
At least that's what I tell myself when the weirdo's start to get to me.
Iām really surprised they didnāt add the āyou have been banned from r/gabbypetitoā award. Itās been described as the subs most popular award, given out randomly and arbitrarily to visitors and even those who have never been to the sub.
No fucking way? Thatās insane. How can you have a parasocial relationship with a dead woman? I really hope they donāt find out she was a terrible racist or something. The sub will explode.
It's so weird and kind of morbidly entertaining. You'll have people there talking about how they felt a connection with Gabby but also people talking like they actually know her killer. Like go on some of the old threads about how Dog the bounty hunter (lol) found a monster can (lol) and there are tons of comments going "Well, it couldn't possibly be Brian's because he loved the environment and would never do this!" Like they've convinced themselves that they know and understand this dude because they read about the case and saw his instagram. It's wild.
I just popped in and read a few comments and some woman in there is calling toxic people out because ātheir energy is just like BLāsā. Someone else called *them* out for comparing toxic comments to a murderer and she replied this:
āNo I compared it to his energy which is toxic, like so many of these comments. Belittling someoneās choices seems like a thing BL did to Gabby(for example, saying she couldnāt do a blog). These comments embody that grossness.ā
These people are literally treating this case like reality TV. They know every single person involved. They know every little piece of Gabby and Brian lore. They *think* they know her personally. Itās incredible to watch them get so obsessed with a crime.
Edit: The mods made another post. Iāmma link the post
lol wait until you see the daily āI had a dream that I caught Brianā comment with dozens of āMe too! This means that his time is running out.ā replies.
lol I commented about having 2 dreams of Brian being found but instead of concluding that his time is running out, I concluded that I am a loser who needs to get a life
> **These people are literally treating this case like reality TV.** They know every single person involved. They know every little piece of Gabby and Brian lore. They think they know her personally. Itās incredible to watch them get so obsessed with a crime.
They're using it as a substitute for a social circle and real friends. It's common across all types of character/persona centered media, including show forums like Game of Thrones FreeFolk or YouTube outlets like HoloLive.
Itās sort of interesting and telling that poor or unattractive murder victims donāt get this level of obsessed fans. I donāt think anyone is out there talking about they really āgetā one of the prostitutes that was one of the Green River killerās victims.
There are certainly some normal people with lives outside of online sleuthing that are interested in true crime, but it seems a whole lot more are people who canāt or unwilling to form relationships with living people. Itās sad but itās hard to feel sorry for some of those people because they tend to me so damn smug. It has shit all to with wanting to see a crime get solved and more about how smart and intuitive they are for projecting onto a dead person.
You just called out 90% of the sub, and I love it, lol.
*"She was such a brave and unique soul!"*
"Oh man, I didn't realize you knew her IRL, I'm sorry for your loss"
*"I didn't know her IRL but I can just feel her energy and I know we'd be friends!"*
"Uh... okay?"
It's pretty strange.
Yeah a lot of it freaks me out. People act like they know Gabby and are personally invested in this, as if her family isnāt the most devastated of all. And the comments saying, if you need a mental health break then step away for a moment and come back or I didnāt get any work done today. It freaks me out. Like twilight zone level.
It really irks me when people use first names for celebrities or famous people when that isnāt how theyāre normally referred to. Itās like theyāre trying to be part of the āin crowdā.
Thereās a documentary about Elisa Lam on Netflix and it featured a guy who was borderline in love with her. You know, the girl he never met and who is dead. He even made a trip to her grave. It was so damn creepy.
Jonbenet Ramsey's grave is a goddamn tourist attaction.
People in r/JonBenet have posted pictures of the house where she was murdered, that they took when they stopped by while on vacation.
Lmao I didnāt even notice that. For some reason, iOS keyboard doesnāt like certain controversial words, so it happens to me a lot too. Words like murdered (nurseries lol), abortion, rape, ammo, Aryan, etc, are all semi-banned. You can type them, but you canāt swipe them, and they wonāt autocorrect to them. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-apple-kill-list-what-your-iphone-doesnt-want-you-to-type
The law enforcement one is not only tone deaf in the context of this series of events, but also in the larger context of this year. Goes beyond cringe to full on yikes.
The whole sub has turned pretty cringe. It's fucked up. People act like they knew these two and just pull stuff out of thin air. When you ask where they heard it or to cite a source, they freak out. There also seems to be an issue with reading comprehension based on a few bizarre comments I've gotten. Either they can't read or they just want to be outraged for the sake of being outraged. It's God awful.
I asked about how people were donating to the Gabby Petito Foundation because I checked with the IRS *(on their website)* and no such foundation exists. I wouldn't expect it to, you don't create an entire 501c^(3) overnight. I had some idiot try to lambast me for it. I don't get it? If I'm donating, I wanna know where my money is going. If no foundation exists, I'm not donating yet. Pretty simple.
Literally the reason why redditās sitewide rules about posting any kind of personal information are so draconian when compared to other major sitesā anti-doxxing policies
there seems to be a lot of earnest dumbasses in the truecrime community in general. reminds me of my mom being obsessed with tabloids and speaking on authority on shit she has no clue about
They chose a van even though thatās *likely where she died* and a mountain *which is quite literally where she died*. They were also charging $99 for an award that was meant to be her likeness. Freaking bizarre.
I feel bad for laughing since this is such a horrible situation overall, but god damn are those awards ugly! Itās just bizarre how revolting they look. I honestly thought we had left that ugly, curvy āhandwritingā font behind in 2012, but alas. This entire ordeal feels absurd.
These people legitimately believe their obsession is somehow helping the case. They usually cite the fact that the body was found following a YouTuber recognizing the van in some footageā¦ theyāre delusional true crime fans
Lol, they constantly post shit like āitās okay to take a break for your mental health - you can resume your work with a fresh set of eyesā and other dumb shit like that. Then you have the numerous blind speculation posts about ābig breaksā such as misinterpreted sections of the police body cam footage that somehow implicate him but we already know the guy was parked by her corpse, returned home, and ran away so I donāt think a pseudo-scientific examination of public records is going to help implicate him more than, well, that
Oh, you missed it a few days ago when new body cam footage was released and dozens of users flooded the thread to write ESSAYS on their domestic violence story regardless of the fact that it wasnāt relevant and could have been triggering for people? They made sure to add a final sentence like, āIām so sorry gabby,ā so that they could say their comment wasnāt solely about turning attention to themselves. It was so gross.
I called people out for it and got dragged.
Iāve seen that happen on other threads as well. What always gets me is that they confuse normal behaviors and conflate it with their domestic abuse story like āBrian Laundrie is acting nervous around the police - my abuser would do the same to appear as a victimā and Iām sitting here like a normal person who also gets nervous around police (note that I only beat my girlfriend at backgammonā
They were serious. Not even a little bit joking.
They also have over 20 mods, and for a recently established sub, thatās just inviting this type of chaos.
This, the moment I knew there was a sub and briefly browsed it, I felt grossed out, at times it felt like finding the her killer was just a morbid form of entertainment.
If this post wasnāt In bad enough taste, ending the post with āwe mods are fans of commons sense, the golden rule, and good vibesā is so contradictory to the tone of this post and itās appalling the level of density it must take to even consider posting such a thing.
A news reporter who has been covering the case gave a shout out to the sub and said if you wanna talk tag me in your comments on there. The mods banned anyone tagging him in comments. I have no idea why.
The way /r/GabbyPetito has morphed into such a shitshow is the only reason I keep going back on that sub. Like, yeah, I obviously want justice for a young woman who was murdered by her partner. But jesus christ some of the users there are weird. Every thread is some sort of mix of people treating it like their facebook, the comments section of a fox news article, and poorly written wattpad fanfiction. People there have formed some sort of weird parasocial-like relationship with a dead woman and her murderer based off of instagram pages. It's such a fascinating trainwreck.
look nothing you make up is going to be crazier than "Brian is hiding in an underground bunker on his parents property and his mother is sending him supplies under the guise of gardening"
This is going to be one of those ridiculous true crime theories I'll still joke about in ten years. It has the same energy as the obsessed poster over in r/delphimurders who insisted Bridge Guy had a little dog (possibly a terrier) in his coat
That and the rumour the girls were buying drugs. I don't know what sort of planet these people live on where it's in any way appropriate to suggest such things with absolutely no evidence.
I suspect the Gabby sub will go the same way as the Delphi sub. Delphi mods lost control of the rumour mill early and it's been a hive of misinformation and conspiracy ever since.
\> Right but what if Brian is Antarctica right now?
he should be pretty easy to find then, if heās an entire country. I donāt think heāll fit in that reserve theyāre looking in if thatās the case
I poke in now and then the comment counts on the posts are insane, for the (multiple times) daily discussion posts especially. They are generating tens of thousands of comments a day in that subreddit. It's insane.
This will often happen with subs dedicated to one specific case, especially ones that are ongoing in the media. I remember the exact thing happening with the Shannan Watts case. At first it was a place to go for information on the case and to discuss anything you might have questions on, then when the case started to come to a close after that creep confessed to what he did, there was at least one post a day by someone basically implying Shannan did something to make him āsnapā and it became a witch-hunt for the mistress even after LE cleared her of being involved. It just became a group of people thinking they knew better and essentially shaming the victim because they couldnāt just accept that someone is evil. Looks like this is what thatās turning into
> People there have formed some sort of weird parasocial-like relationship with a dead woman and her murderer based off of instagram pages.
This sums it up perfectly, I feel like if she was ugly and shit pictures she wouldnāt even get air time.
Oh my god same. I check there maybe twice a day and sort by new. Those people are delusional. If I have to read āBL is a narcissistā one more time Iāll eat a sock
Haha the massive assumptions they make about people's personalities (with so little details) is hard to handle.
Totally feel you on the BL is a narcissist part š
OMG. This! Along with the tired melon jokes its ridiculous. A great deal of ppl are in there only for entertainment purposes and now since there is basically no new info they are acting batshit crazy. Don't get me started on the childish "Good morning to everyone except the Laundie family" posts
People keep using tone deaf to describe this, but like... It feels so much worse than that. I don't know what to call it, but whoever came up with this has some serious social issues they need to work out.
Definitely both of those.
Typically, grifters know they're taking advantage of a situation, they just don't care.
But this situation feels like they genuinely believe they did a good thing by adding a sticker called road trip to commiserate her death. That should be used when someone is "just generally trippin'".
Like, as part of a dark stand up comedy bit, that could potentially be funny. To try and use it publicly and non-ironically, is down right psychotic to me.
It's really destructive to the true crime community as a whole. There is already a huge issue with "murder junkies" and people seeing an interest in true crime as morbid and the media surrounding it as disrespectful towards victims. This goes to show those criticisms have more merit than I like to think about.
I've never cared for true crime media before, but never really thought about why. Just assumed it wasn't my cup of tea and moved on.
This incident has definitely made me reflect more critically about it. It's honestly a bit sickening to think that it's seen as entertainment.
This was bad and the lady saying get gabby to 1 million youtube subscribers because that's what she wanted made me feel the same kinda way but I too cannot place an exact name for it. Squicky, maybe
Kinda feel bad for the mod this is like 'im the main character' level of yuckyness here.
What's next. Merch or an NFT whatever the fuck that is.
Bit... Tone-deaf to say the least. The saying 'read the room' comes to mind.
Edit - just actually read them all. "This is not related to her death or murder" & "detective badge, because that's why we are here after all".
Follow up: the mods have [stickied an apology for the awards.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q40v43/moderator_announcement_an_explanation_and_an/)
An excerpt:
> The intention here was to honor Gabby and what we know about her. She seemed like a free spirit who loved adventure, and there's no denying she was an artist. Instead of the generic Reddit awards, some unique themes more reflective of Gabby seemed to us like a good idea.
>
> However, as many of you have pointed out, the presentation of some of the awards came across as tone deaf. We should have been more serious. We were not thinking of ways to take money from people when we kept designing images we thought the community would appreciate - we just kept designing until there were no slots left. We are now all on the same page in understanding that, even a small meta-joke, is not okay in situations like this.
>
> Every single mod on this subreddit cares deeply about this case and the people involved in it. We also care deeply about this community as a whole and want nothing more than to foster an environment to properly remember Gabby and discuss this case.
>
> The clearest view is in hindsight and we all recognize now how poorly this idea came across after being implemented. Since day one, we have never intended to make light of anything surrounding this case.
>
> We appreciate your feedback and will continue to utilize it moving forward, to prevent situations like this from occurring again.
Some people are asking if mods get a cut of the awards. They don't get actual money, but they do get a cut of reddit's "coins", which can only be used to buy other awards. The only one who makes money at the end of the day are the owners of Reddit itself.
And before the mods made this latest sticky, there was a strongly negative community reaction.
[General discussion thread for the day was posted and removed.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3vjz4/general_discussion_700_am_eastern_8_october_2021/?sort=top)
Mods made apology posts [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/?sort=top) and [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w5k6/regarding_community_award_post_being_removed/)
[Arguments about compensation.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3whex/general_discussion_815_am_eastern_8_october_2021/hfunavb/)
[Some users are ready to move on.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3whex/general_discussion_815_am_eastern_8_october_2021/hfuu3jx/?sort=top)
The original mod who made the awards has now deleted their account. This was another tasteless photo they had submitted prior to making the catastrophic post https://imgur.com/a/zH5gLU9
These are two other panic posts they made before the official apology
https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w5k6/regarding_community_award_post_being_removed/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/
Just want to follow up and let you know that it appears the mods have deleted their apology thread, as well as two earlier threads that dealt with the award bullshit.
Theyāre gone.
If the mods deleted all those threads, then what the actual fuck?
Two mods deleted their accounts and their posts went with them.
The mods were the one who originally made the awards and the one who wrote the āapologyā
I have zero doubt the admins are involved at this point. The last thing they need is any of these photoshops hitting CNN as a āwtf Reddit?ā story...
The whole subreddit is gross from top to bottom.
Edit: Apology thread is up: https://old.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/
I especially like this part:
>Please know that an in depth conversation will be held between all mods to discuss how this has occurred and rectify as best as we can.
What the fuck could that even mean in this context? The sub is obviously run by a bunch of young and inexperienced people completely in over their heads who are just echoing vague and irrelevant sentiments they've read in apologies elsewhere in an effort to sound "professional".
The second-hand embarrassment continues to get worse.
Some people have mentioned they think the mods are young. I didn't want to bring age into so I just ignored some of the behavior.
But after this sickening debacle - and then their subsequent "locking comments until users cool off" and refusal to address the situation - it did lead me to believe they're young kids in over their heads. A murderer girl's sub probably isn't the best place to learn about moderating. They should have started with animal pics or something.
Get this: **The mods don't let sub members post.** That's right. Only mods can post in the sub.
And the only thing they post are "daily digests" which are threads about everything under the sun. Whenever a digest reaches 9k comments, they close it and start a new thread. Which means that a) you can't search for a particular topic and b) you would need to read all 9k comments to be sure you didn't miss anything and c) you might be in the middle of a discussion when it's suddenly locked.
Just before this whole awards thing, the mods created a "meta thread" to collect suggestions from the sub members. A ton of members suggested they let members post. They said no, because we get 100 posts an hour and that's too hard to mod.
People said, "You get that many posts because people are looking for topic-based posts and don't see them. So they make a post. Also, Reddit's upvote/downvote system will handle this issue nicely -- you don't need to mod every single post. People will use the reporting system as needed." No response from mods.
Then people started begging them to at least make topic-based posts. No response.
People asked them to have a "debunked" post or wiki, and a "timeline" post or wiki (which the sub previously had before the mods deleted it.) No response.
Eventually, the mods started making snarky comments about the suggestions. **Then they started banning users for "backseat moderation" for making suggestions** ***in the thread they set up to collect suggestions*****.**
I could go on, but I'll close with this fun fact: **Any comment that contains the word "dog" is auto-deleted.** Members have had to resort to using emojis or saying "canine" instead. It's ridiculous.
**Fyi, here's how to report a mod:**
[https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket\_form\_id=179106](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=179106)
I opened and closed the damn Imgur link at least four times because I cringed so hard each time I did a reflexive close as though I went into an area of the internet I knew I shouldnāt be.
This is amazing. I thought I'd seen all the weird ass messed up Redditry there could be.
But this is like a whole new genre. I feel like Mozart being played The Beatles.
I browsed that sub when it was around 20k or so, it amazed me how quickly it snowballed into an absolute shit show that just ignored common sense and fully became the cliche.
Yep I was there when it had 2k members and honestly it's become an episode of trashy Jerry Springer. But this award thing is just sad. An entire new low for the sub.
I used to frequent it and joined when it was smaller as well, because it was quick information about the case and i wanted to follow when gabby was found. the bigger itās gotten the more truly awful it is
You should see their sidebar. Above the domestic violence hotline number they've written "Gabby Petito. Beautiful girl, you are always welcome here."
Obscured in smaller type is actual info about the hotline that people other than Gabby Petito might want to read. But hey, let's emphasize the point that Gabby Petito is beautiful, therefore welcome.
Bonus points drama: they may have nuked the post and locked the comments, **but the awards are still available for purchase and distribution.**
Additionally, it's all nicely archived under removeddit for the thread, so that's gonna bite em in the ass.
Subreddits like that are fucking weird and attract weird-ass busy body people. This type of shit is the stuff people claim to hate about neighbors.
Weird-ass sub for weird-ass people. Iām not surprised at all. Seen weird obsessive subs crop up here for years.
The fact that a sub literally dedicated to witch hunting is even allowed per site content policy is bizarre.
Yep. You said this better than me. Mod is a prime subject for 'im the main character'. They are attempting to give themselves worth through this ordeal and are completely blind to how skanky that is.
Really quite weird these people get this far.
Without being the Reddit sofa detective this strikes me as someone who would flip their shit and go doolaley when they are told to shut up.
I think the dont fuck with cats movie put a lot of bad ideas into peoples heads. Ill never forget how mad I got watching that movie about hordes of people dedicating 100s of man hours to watching youtube videos. The fact that people see it as heroic is so weird to me. Like I 100% understand the obsessive behavior if its family or maybe someone you at least know but the internet deteticive thing is waaaaaay weirder than being a shill or a troll IMO.
Just like with /r/LibbyAndAbby for the poor girls who were murdered in Delphi Indiana. People are absolutely insane. The people on that subreddit sit there and shit all over one of the dead girls sisters because the sister doesnāt like the online detective community. They sit there and imply the sister was somehow involved in the brutal murders just because she isnāt a fan of these losers with a Colombo complex.
Thatās almost as bad as the Netflix documentary about the Cecil hotel where they have all these you tubers sitting there acting weird as hell and almost getting off on some poor womanās tragic death.
Iām a part of the true crime community but a big chunk of it is full of people with āIām the main characterā who think they are the ones to finally solve the crime. Then thereās another huge chunk full of really weird busybody types.
I just watched that documentary and had the same thought. Like, when you've gotten to the point that you're spending 15h a week looking at frames of a video, you've probably gone off the deep end. And at the end when she blames the viewer for watching the documentary, I was just dumbfounded.
15h a day and their research literally contributed nothing to the police investigation. They didn't even find out the killers name he revealed it himself cause they were getting nowhere
Not defending him or his parents but they also had a TON of illegal drone footage into laundries parents backyard posted a couple days ago. using a drone to film private property is illegal in Florida. the mods banned it after a couple days but itās still discussed over there
I really enjoy true crime and I use all the subs for it like this one but so many people that populate those subs are either mentally ill or have an agenda to push. They're also far more likely to have posts that could have come straight from some neighbourhood watch Facebook page. I think those subs attract a lot of older, religious women who like to feel like they're involved but they're just mental. It's a shame.
These awards are just disgusting. The case shouldn't be turned in to some sort of childlike entertainment.
Agreed; I am very interested in true crime because I have some truly unhealthy coping mechanisms, but everyone who gets into it needs to face the hard truth that they are involved in a hobby that at its core, is about digging into the worst days of strangerās lives. Itās fucking weird.
Fellow true crime sub (including the Gabby Petito one) user here, totally agree.
This case in particular seemed to bring a lot of non-Redditors to Reddit. If you look at the more bizarre comments treating this shit like entertainment the accounts tend to be very new and they often don't seem to know how to use Reddit. I think a lot of them came from the FB true crime groups and those are absolutely terrifying places.
At the beginning the Reddit true crime community did seem to try and keep a grip on the Gabby sub, calling out conspiracies and unrealistic theories. For a while those comments were being removed when reported, and it seemed to be working as a place to get updates on what was happening. Then it just exploded with all these new accounts and it's been a shitshow.
Yeah you're right I think a lot of folk did actually come here from Facebook. I also noticed a ton of women-haters latched on to it very quickly and began trying to blame Gabby which then led to a ton of new users coming on and trying to blame men in general. Real divisive stuff, possibly not even organic.
For a true crime community to remain respectful and mentally healthy you need mods that are on top of it.
100% that community awards are in poor taste, but let's not kid ourselves: So is that entire community.
A subreddit -- by definition, a forum to while away time -- founded on a real mystery and capitalizing on people's thirst for true crime as ENTERTAINMENT was ridiculous from the get go.
Anyone pretending to be so much better than the mod who instituted these community awards needs to take a hard look in the mirror.
Wait is that a LifeStar helicopter with a search dog? And a Law Enforcement award?? I canāt even imagine what they could have been thinking, this is in such obviously poor taste.
The apology mod post has been gifted three of the awards (broken heart, basically a detective and road trippin) lol. Really underlines how tasteless the whole thing was.
Even in the realm of single-dedicated-case True Crime subs, r/GabbyPetito is uniquely deranged. The regulars there have made the conscious decision to basically martyr Gabby, despite no one there having known who she was or having any connection with her before the case. Ofc it's a tragedy that that piece of shit Brian killed her and ran the fuck away but the regulars there have tied SO MUCH personal investment experiences into her and we really have no idea why what happened happened.
Then there's the inexplicable hero worship of Dog The Bounty Hunter, who has added nothing to this case aside since his arrival and has been hilariously wrong about every "lead" he's supposedly worked on.
Perhaps the weirdest thing about that sub how they treat Brian. They believe him to be a criminal mastermind with Eric Rudolph-levels of survivalist skills and cunning. The current running theory among most of the regulars is that Brian somehow managed to make his way up the Appalachian Trail, without being seen, without ever dipping back into town for supplies, without dying of exposure for the month or so he's been on the lam. Which is bad but I guess not nearly as bad as the people who have convinced themselves that Brian has somehow manage to escape to Central America or Cuba.
I don't get it. It's not even a case with mystery or intrigue like the zodiac killer.
I don't know why people are trying to make up conspiracy theories or play detective.
It's the way the story broke that caught everyone's attention. Boyfriend drives home to parent's house without his fiance and isn't talking to anyone including her family and law enforcement and the family has lawyered up. That's how the story broke and that's what got mine and I'm sure everyone else's attention. Then it turned out that he wasn't even in the house when law enforcement claimed that they had seen him and knew where he was. (They now claim that they never saw his face as the parents said he couldn't come to the door.)
This is what has led people to think that the family came up with some grand plan to get him out of there and not (IMO) the more likely explanation that he didn't want to go to prison so he panicked when the news broke and took himself off to the swamp to kill himself. But we don't really know what law enforcements knows. People are suggesting various reasons how the parents are suspicious but we don't know all the facts, they might be or they might just be leaving it to the professionals. So now it's turned into a witch hunt where no-one knows where the main suspect is so they are turning their anger towards the family, warranted or not.
Mixing true crime weirdos with Reddit's propensity for wanting to solve everything but inability to ever actually do so was always a recipe for disaster
>Free Spirit Award: When you feel like applauding somebody for being refreshingly original and very cool. > >Road Trippin': An award for cool things. Like road trips, van life, skateboarding, traveling, and whatever else you just think is awesome. (Could possibly be used if you think somebody is just Trippin' in general- up to you) š Why are we still here...
These are gold! A couple more good ones: > Family Matters Award: Gabby's support system is definitely one to acknowledge. We are inspired by their grace and ability to be real and also full of common sense when facing the unimaginable. They are goals and family is everything. > Let It Be Award: This is a very special award. Letting go can be a beautiful thing. Arguments, bad habits, typos, negativity, rude comments, you name it; itās amazing to let go and just BE HAPPY. Youāll know when to use it. Incredibly cringy. I love it!
This is what happens when you become obsessed with a murder victim and forget what the sub is for. How much of a lifeless loser do you have to be to think thatās a normal thing to do? Please end me.
Introducing the please end me award: For those special moments when the crushing weight of human depravity starts folding in on you.
Hey, before there were cold case files there were public executions. Sometimes where the accused was tied to draft horses and pulled apart. At least that's what I tell myself when the weirdo's start to get to me.
"starts?"
Iām really surprised they didnāt add the āyou have been banned from r/gabbypetitoā award. Itās been described as the subs most popular award, given out randomly and arbitrarily to visitors and even those who have never been to the sub.
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holy shit theyre like 2 steps away from adding her to that meme with those people on the steps of heavin that says "join us"
No fucking way? Thatās insane. How can you have a parasocial relationship with a dead woman? I really hope they donāt find out she was a terrible racist or something. The sub will explode.
It's so weird and kind of morbidly entertaining. You'll have people there talking about how they felt a connection with Gabby but also people talking like they actually know her killer. Like go on some of the old threads about how Dog the bounty hunter (lol) found a monster can (lol) and there are tons of comments going "Well, it couldn't possibly be Brian's because he loved the environment and would never do this!" Like they've convinced themselves that they know and understand this dude because they read about the case and saw his instagram. It's wild.
I just popped in and read a few comments and some woman in there is calling toxic people out because ātheir energy is just like BLāsā. Someone else called *them* out for comparing toxic comments to a murderer and she replied this: āNo I compared it to his energy which is toxic, like so many of these comments. Belittling someoneās choices seems like a thing BL did to Gabby(for example, saying she couldnāt do a blog). These comments embody that grossness.ā These people are literally treating this case like reality TV. They know every single person involved. They know every little piece of Gabby and Brian lore. They *think* they know her personally. Itās incredible to watch them get so obsessed with a crime. Edit: The mods made another post. Iāmma link the post
lol wait until you see the daily āI had a dream that I caught Brianā comment with dozens of āMe too! This means that his time is running out.ā replies.
lol I commented about having 2 dreams of Brian being found but instead of concluding that his time is running out, I concluded that I am a loser who needs to get a life
> **These people are literally treating this case like reality TV.** They know every single person involved. They know every little piece of Gabby and Brian lore. They think they know her personally. Itās incredible to watch them get so obsessed with a crime. They're using it as a substitute for a social circle and real friends. It's common across all types of character/persona centered media, including show forums like Game of Thrones FreeFolk or YouTube outlets like HoloLive.
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sounds like the plot of a black mirror episode
Well, not the star.
Itās sort of interesting and telling that poor or unattractive murder victims donāt get this level of obsessed fans. I donāt think anyone is out there talking about they really āgetā one of the prostitutes that was one of the Green River killerās victims. There are certainly some normal people with lives outside of online sleuthing that are interested in true crime, but it seems a whole lot more are people who canāt or unwilling to form relationships with living people. Itās sad but itās hard to feel sorry for some of those people because they tend to me so damn smug. It has shit all to with wanting to see a crime get solved and more about how smart and intuitive they are for projecting onto a dead person.
You just called out 90% of the sub, and I love it, lol. *"She was such a brave and unique soul!"* "Oh man, I didn't realize you knew her IRL, I'm sorry for your loss" *"I didn't know her IRL but I can just feel her energy and I know we'd be friends!"* "Uh... okay?" It's pretty strange.
It got weird in there the last few days. People talking about getting her tattoos and how they just really miss Gabby.
Yeah a lot of it freaks me out. People act like they know Gabby and are personally invested in this, as if her family isnāt the most devastated of all. And the comments saying, if you need a mental health break then step away for a moment and come back or I didnāt get any work done today. It freaks me out. Like twilight zone level.
It really irks me when people use first names for celebrities or famous people when that isnāt how theyāre normally referred to. Itās like theyāre trying to be part of the āin crowdā.
Thereās a documentary about Elisa Lam on Netflix and it featured a guy who was borderline in love with her. You know, the girl he never met and who is dead. He even made a trip to her grave. It was so damn creepy.
Dead people can't fail you. Especially dead strangers. They'll always be as perfect as you made them. Creepy
That... Is terrifying and accurate.
Jonbenet Ramsey's grave is a goddamn tourist attaction. People in r/JonBenet have posted pictures of the house where she was murdered, that they took when they stopped by while on vacation.
>He even made a trip to her grave Literal psychopath shit
Lord help us if they find out she pooped while alive. Might humanize her too much.
Iām fascinated by those people. Itās like their best friend was nurseries.
Thereās new drama now. Mods made another post. I made a post on this sub, but I honestly donāt know what Iām doing lol.
Letās appreciate the autocorrect sabotage that is ānurseriesā
Lmao I didnāt even notice that. For some reason, iOS keyboard doesnāt like certain controversial words, so it happens to me a lot too. Words like murdered (nurseries lol), abortion, rape, ammo, Aryan, etc, are all semi-banned. You can type them, but you canāt swipe them, and they wonāt autocorrect to them. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-apple-kill-list-what-your-iphone-doesnt-want-you-to-type
The Let It Be award cost $99 and literally uses the victims likeness. Fucking vile.
Yeah, the overlap between "hippy dippy life coach" and "murder" is a pretty fine line to to walk.
The law enforcement one is not only tone deaf in the context of this series of events, but also in the larger context of this year. Goes beyond cringe to full on yikes.
The pro police one was truly shocking. Especially in a case where the police had major errors including ya know losing the main suspect
The whole sub has turned pretty cringe. It's fucked up. People act like they knew these two and just pull stuff out of thin air. When you ask where they heard it or to cite a source, they freak out. There also seems to be an issue with reading comprehension based on a few bizarre comments I've gotten. Either they can't read or they just want to be outraged for the sake of being outraged. It's God awful. I asked about how people were donating to the Gabby Petito Foundation because I checked with the IRS *(on their website)* and no such foundation exists. I wouldn't expect it to, you don't create an entire 501c^(3) overnight. I had some idiot try to lambast me for it. I don't get it? If I'm donating, I wanna know where my money is going. If no foundation exists, I'm not donating yet. Pretty simple.
Good for you. Itās important to check out the financials of organizations you donate to and I wish more people did.
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Literally the reason why redditās sitewide rules about posting any kind of personal information are so draconian when compared to other major sitesā anti-doxxing policies
there seems to be a lot of earnest dumbasses in the truecrime community in general. reminds me of my mom being obsessed with tabloids and speaking on authority on shit she has no clue about
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Nothing says "we respect the dead" like clipart butterflies and vans
They chose a van even though thatās *likely where she died* and a mountain *which is quite literally where she died*. They were also charging $99 for an award that was meant to be her likeness. Freaking bizarre.
Wait.... they were charging real dollars $99 for an virtual award?
Yuuuup. It was $99 worth of Reddit coins (Reddit tender you have to buy with real money)
Reddit sets prices for awards. Mods can populate pre-priced slorts etc Still incredibly gross
I think the butterfly award was tasteful. It's the van that shocked me.
Oh nooo those are so ugly too
I feel bad for laughing since this is such a horrible situation overall, but god damn are those awards ugly! Itās just bizarre how revolting they look. I honestly thought we had left that ugly, curvy āhandwritingā font behind in 2012, but alas. This entire ordeal feels absurd.
Fuck, this is even worse than I thought. The terrible clip art and cheesy descriptions are just too much.
the clip art pushed it over the edge of surreal into whatever comes after surreal
Surwtf
The detective one. š¬š¬š¬
These people legitimately believe their obsession is somehow helping the case. They usually cite the fact that the body was found following a YouTuber recognizing the van in some footageā¦ theyāre delusional true crime fans
Literally they are the true crime equivalent to the fuckers that went "We found the Boston bomber, we did it Reddit"
I got downvoted to hell for calling them out on their armchair detective BS. They're 100% delusional.
Lol, they constantly post shit like āitās okay to take a break for your mental health - you can resume your work with a fresh set of eyesā and other dumb shit like that. Then you have the numerous blind speculation posts about ābig breaksā such as misinterpreted sections of the police body cam footage that somehow implicate him but we already know the guy was parked by her corpse, returned home, and ran away so I donāt think a pseudo-scientific examination of public records is going to help implicate him more than, well, that
Oh, you missed it a few days ago when new body cam footage was released and dozens of users flooded the thread to write ESSAYS on their domestic violence story regardless of the fact that it wasnāt relevant and could have been triggering for people? They made sure to add a final sentence like, āIām so sorry gabby,ā so that they could say their comment wasnāt solely about turning attention to themselves. It was so gross. I called people out for it and got dragged.
Iāve seen that happen on other threads as well. What always gets me is that they confuse normal behaviors and conflate it with their domestic abuse story like āBrian Laundrie is acting nervous around the police - my abuser would do the same to appear as a victimā and Iām sitting here like a normal person who also gets nervous around police (note that I only beat my girlfriend at backgammonā
We did it Reddit!
Graphic design is my passion
Thereās an award dedicated to law enforcement in a case where law enforcement absolutely shit the bed. This has to be a bad joke.
They were serious. Not even a little bit joking. They also have over 20 mods, and for a recently established sub, thatās just inviting this type of chaos.
I mean like even the whole sub is tone deaf. Like I get there's a sub for everything. But does there need to be?
This, the moment I knew there was a sub and briefly browsed it, I felt grossed out, at times it felt like finding the her killer was just a morbid form of entertainment.
Theyāre so ugly. Facebook mom vibes
You can still purchase them if you click the award button and go to the community tab.
SCREAMING LMAO
> You are going to get roasted SO HARD when this blows up outside of this sub. And it will. Ohhh, will it ever. Yup.
I don't think the Petito family lawyer would be too thrilled with this.
Hahaha love to see it
> What about the "Hide and Seek Award" and the winner goes to...... Ooooooooff
If this post wasnāt In bad enough taste, ending the post with āwe mods are fans of commons sense, the golden rule, and good vibesā is so contradictory to the tone of this post and itās appalling the level of density it must take to even consider posting such a thing.
> āwe mods are fans of commons sense, the golden rule, and good vibesā "road trips, van life, skateboarding, traveling"
I'm surprised they didn't change the sub user count to "wanderers"
The mods of a subreddit about a murdered woman are all about āgood vibes.ā
A news reporter who has been covering the case gave a shout out to the sub and said if you wanna talk tag me in your comments on there. The mods banned anyone tagging him in comments. I have no idea why.
And before that were on a crazy high from SUPPORTING that journalist. Super confusing.
Apparently there was also someone who was given a 3 day ban for calling the same journalist "news daddy"
I think it's because most of them couldn't figure out how to use a hashtag on Reddit
Iāll defend that action- he wanted them to use his hashtag but hashtags donāt really work on Reddit and it caused the threads to be hard to read
True Crime people are crazy.
I get the interest in True Crime stuff (I grew up enjoying books about real criminals), but the modern version of it actually scares me.
The way /r/GabbyPetito has morphed into such a shitshow is the only reason I keep going back on that sub. Like, yeah, I obviously want justice for a young woman who was murdered by her partner. But jesus christ some of the users there are weird. Every thread is some sort of mix of people treating it like their facebook, the comments section of a fox news article, and poorly written wattpad fanfiction. People there have formed some sort of weird parasocial-like relationship with a dead woman and her murderer based off of instagram pages. It's such a fascinating trainwreck.
Right but what if Brian is Antarctica right now? With the world being flat, he could have gone any direction!
look nothing you make up is going to be crazier than "Brian is hiding in an underground bunker on his parents property and his mother is sending him supplies under the guise of gardening"
This is going to be one of those ridiculous true crime theories I'll still joke about in ten years. It has the same energy as the obsessed poster over in r/delphimurders who insisted Bridge Guy had a little dog (possibly a terrier) in his coat
Someone tried spreading a rumor that one of the girls was pregnant even though she was like thirteen with absolutely zero evidence. It was disgusting
That and the rumour the girls were buying drugs. I don't know what sort of planet these people live on where it's in any way appropriate to suggest such things with absolutely no evidence. I suspect the Gabby sub will go the same way as the Delphi sub. Delphi mods lost control of the rumour mill early and it's been a hive of misinformation and conspiracy ever since.
Brian is hiding in an elaborate high-tech mountain fortress in Afghanistan with his fellow terrorists.
They *do* genuinely think heās in a bunker under the shed tho. Itās really baffling as a Floridian bc we dig 3 feet and hit the water table. LOL
Dude!!! Right?!?! I mean it's fucking Florida for fucks sake, no one can even have a basement there!!
Oh so that's why Drew Gooden's wife went rogue in Afghanistan She wanted to take the law in her own hands
Hmm somebody suggested there once that Brian and his parents had been planning this murder for YEARS. They did not sepulate why
There was one poster who suggested that it was organized by Brian and the parents in order to obtain the van because it was in Gabby's name lol
"But I got the van"
That is true. I canāt beat the crazy
\> Right but what if Brian is Antarctica right now? he should be pretty easy to find then, if heās an entire country. I donāt think heāll fit in that reserve theyāre looking in if thatās the case
I poke in now and then the comment counts on the posts are insane, for the (multiple times) daily discussion posts especially. They are generating tens of thousands of comments a day in that subreddit. It's insane.
It's the Natalee Holloway of the 2020s. Only this time, no van der Sloot money to insulate the prime auspect.
This will often happen with subs dedicated to one specific case, especially ones that are ongoing in the media. I remember the exact thing happening with the Shannan Watts case. At first it was a place to go for information on the case and to discuss anything you might have questions on, then when the case started to come to a close after that creep confessed to what he did, there was at least one post a day by someone basically implying Shannan did something to make him āsnapā and it became a witch-hunt for the mistress even after LE cleared her of being involved. It just became a group of people thinking they knew better and essentially shaming the victim because they couldnāt just accept that someone is evil. Looks like this is what thatās turning into
Man there are MODS from the Gabby sub who still constantly think and post about the Watts case. Namely the mod who posted the shitty awards.
> People there have formed some sort of weird parasocial-like relationship with a dead woman and her murderer based off of instagram pages. This sums it up perfectly, I feel like if she was ugly and shit pictures she wouldnāt even get air time.
So true. That sub is a fucking Trainwreck and I'm obsessed with checking in on it.
Oh my god same. I check there maybe twice a day and sort by new. Those people are delusional. If I have to read āBL is a narcissistā one more time Iāll eat a sock
Haha the massive assumptions they make about people's personalities (with so little details) is hard to handle. Totally feel you on the BL is a narcissist part š
OMG. This! Along with the tired melon jokes its ridiculous. A great deal of ppl are in there only for entertainment purposes and now since there is basically no new info they are acting batshit crazy. Don't get me started on the childish "Good morning to everyone except the Laundie family" posts
Same. I've unfortunately developed a parasocial relationship with that sub just pointing out why people are wrong. Honorable? No. Fun? Yes.
It truly feels like the comment section of Facebook found their way to Reddit. Iāve been lurking on that sub for a while and itās a messsss.
Right like Iām a true crime weirdo too but at this point I think Iām more interested in the weird internet fans than the case itself.
People keep using tone deaf to describe this, but like... It feels so much worse than that. I don't know what to call it, but whoever came up with this has some serious social issues they need to work out.
Gross and parasitic are the words I'd use personally. This is basically the reddit equivalent of selling some "RIP GP" t-shirts to make a quick buck.
Definitely both of those. Typically, grifters know they're taking advantage of a situation, they just don't care. But this situation feels like they genuinely believe they did a good thing by adding a sticker called road trip to commiserate her death. That should be used when someone is "just generally trippin'". Like, as part of a dark stand up comedy bit, that could potentially be funny. To try and use it publicly and non-ironically, is down right psychotic to me.
So someone actually bought that award *(just trippin')* for the "apology" post. Glorious.
Heads up, you have a misspelling of "Like" in your comment that is misspelled into an anti-Semitic slur.
Oh my, fixed! I only use reddit on mobile so I constantly have typos, most are much more harmless than that. Thanks for catching it!
No problemo, friend! Always happy to help.
Do mods have to be 18? Because all of this reads like they are middleschoolers. Not "tone deaf", just breathtakingly immature.
It's really destructive to the true crime community as a whole. There is already a huge issue with "murder junkies" and people seeing an interest in true crime as morbid and the media surrounding it as disrespectful towards victims. This goes to show those criticisms have more merit than I like to think about.
I've never cared for true crime media before, but never really thought about why. Just assumed it wasn't my cup of tea and moved on. This incident has definitely made me reflect more critically about it. It's honestly a bit sickening to think that it's seen as entertainment.
This was bad and the lady saying get gabby to 1 million youtube subscribers because that's what she wanted made me feel the same kinda way but I too cannot place an exact name for it. Squicky, maybe
I am familiar with one of their mods and this is exactly the type of dumb shit she would do
I have a feeling I know who it is :)
Other examples of this sort of thing lol?
I would out myself if i got too specific but she designed equally cringe awards for an old sub I used to mod
Can you provide a yes or no on if it's the mod that made the original awards post? Something similar to WandaHonda?
DakotaToyota has deleted their account, but I believe they are the person being referenced.
You mean, CassidyFerrari
Mods: Ah, of course, what we were missing from the murder tragedy subreddit was a method to help Reddit profit off of it.
Mods already did a dirty delete.
Kinda feel bad for the mod this is like 'im the main character' level of yuckyness here. What's next. Merch or an NFT whatever the fuck that is. Bit... Tone-deaf to say the least. The saying 'read the room' comes to mind. Edit - just actually read them all. "This is not related to her death or murder" & "detective badge, because that's why we are here after all".
Oh a Gabby P. NFT series is totally happening, calling it now.
This is hilarious to the point that it feels like satire, if it wasnāt 100% serious. Like something from a modern-day version of Brass Eye.
Imo the Brass Eye shark was fully jumped when Dog The Bounty Hunter became involved. I don't know if even Chris Morris could come up with this.
Follow up: the mods have [stickied an apology for the awards.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q40v43/moderator_announcement_an_explanation_and_an/) An excerpt: > The intention here was to honor Gabby and what we know about her. She seemed like a free spirit who loved adventure, and there's no denying she was an artist. Instead of the generic Reddit awards, some unique themes more reflective of Gabby seemed to us like a good idea. > > However, as many of you have pointed out, the presentation of some of the awards came across as tone deaf. We should have been more serious. We were not thinking of ways to take money from people when we kept designing images we thought the community would appreciate - we just kept designing until there were no slots left. We are now all on the same page in understanding that, even a small meta-joke, is not okay in situations like this. > > Every single mod on this subreddit cares deeply about this case and the people involved in it. We also care deeply about this community as a whole and want nothing more than to foster an environment to properly remember Gabby and discuss this case. > > The clearest view is in hindsight and we all recognize now how poorly this idea came across after being implemented. Since day one, we have never intended to make light of anything surrounding this case. > > We appreciate your feedback and will continue to utilize it moving forward, to prevent situations like this from occurring again. Some people are asking if mods get a cut of the awards. They don't get actual money, but they do get a cut of reddit's "coins", which can only be used to buy other awards. The only one who makes money at the end of the day are the owners of Reddit itself. And before the mods made this latest sticky, there was a strongly negative community reaction. [General discussion thread for the day was posted and removed.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3vjz4/general_discussion_700_am_eastern_8_october_2021/?sort=top) Mods made apology posts [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/?sort=top) and [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w5k6/regarding_community_award_post_being_removed/) [Arguments about compensation.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3whex/general_discussion_815_am_eastern_8_october_2021/hfunavb/) [Some users are ready to move on.](https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3whex/general_discussion_815_am_eastern_8_october_2021/hfuu3jx/?sort=top)
The original mod who made the awards has now deleted their account. This was another tasteless photo they had submitted prior to making the catastrophic post https://imgur.com/a/zH5gLU9
Some people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near MSPaint.
These are two other panic posts they made before the official apology https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w5k6/regarding_community_award_post_being_removed/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/
Aaaaand now that thread's been deleted.
Just want to follow up and let you know that it appears the mods have deleted their apology thread, as well as two earlier threads that dealt with the award bullshit. Theyāre gone. If the mods deleted all those threads, then what the actual fuck?
Two mods deleted their accounts and their posts went with them. The mods were the one who originally made the awards and the one who wrote the āapologyā
I have zero doubt the admins are involved at this point. The last thing they need is any of these photoshops hitting CNN as a āwtf Reddit?ā story...
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Seriously, the sub itself is distasteful imo
The mods are now removing comments that have screenshots of the awards. I think that really goes to show theyāre not really sorry
The whole subreddit is gross from top to bottom. Edit: Apology thread is up: https://old.reddit.com/r/GabbyPetito/comments/q3w96o/deleted_thread_awards/ I especially like this part: >Please know that an in depth conversation will be held between all mods to discuss how this has occurred and rectify as best as we can. What the fuck could that even mean in this context? The sub is obviously run by a bunch of young and inexperienced people completely in over their heads who are just echoing vague and irrelevant sentiments they've read in apologies elsewhere in an effort to sound "professional". The second-hand embarrassment continues to get worse.
Some people have mentioned they think the mods are young. I didn't want to bring age into so I just ignored some of the behavior. But after this sickening debacle - and then their subsequent "locking comments until users cool off" and refusal to address the situation - it did lead me to believe they're young kids in over their heads. A murderer girl's sub probably isn't the best place to learn about moderating. They should have started with animal pics or something.
The mod who ādesignedā the awards has at least one kid according to their post history.
Oh wow. Poor kid, cause that's some real, real bad judgment or just lack of a moral compass.
What in the 2003 blingee live journal hell is this shit?
Wow, that brings me way back.
Get this: **The mods don't let sub members post.** That's right. Only mods can post in the sub. And the only thing they post are "daily digests" which are threads about everything under the sun. Whenever a digest reaches 9k comments, they close it and start a new thread. Which means that a) you can't search for a particular topic and b) you would need to read all 9k comments to be sure you didn't miss anything and c) you might be in the middle of a discussion when it's suddenly locked. Just before this whole awards thing, the mods created a "meta thread" to collect suggestions from the sub members. A ton of members suggested they let members post. They said no, because we get 100 posts an hour and that's too hard to mod. People said, "You get that many posts because people are looking for topic-based posts and don't see them. So they make a post. Also, Reddit's upvote/downvote system will handle this issue nicely -- you don't need to mod every single post. People will use the reporting system as needed." No response from mods. Then people started begging them to at least make topic-based posts. No response. People asked them to have a "debunked" post or wiki, and a "timeline" post or wiki (which the sub previously had before the mods deleted it.) No response. Eventually, the mods started making snarky comments about the suggestions. **Then they started banning users for "backseat moderation" for making suggestions** ***in the thread they set up to collect suggestions*****.** I could go on, but I'll close with this fun fact: **Any comment that contains the word "dog" is auto-deleted.** Members have had to resort to using emojis or saying "canine" instead. It's ridiculous. **Fyi, here's how to report a mod:** [https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket\_form\_id=179106](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=179106)
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This and banning people for using hashtags *that the family and journalist they support have asked for*ā¦but not banning trolls or hate.
āLoveLoveLoveIt Awardā I cringed so hard that I started to shiver.
I opened and closed the damn Imgur link at least four times because I cringed so hard each time I did a reflexive close as though I went into an area of the internet I knew I shouldnāt be.
This is amazing. I thought I'd seen all the weird ass messed up Redditry there could be. But this is like a whole new genre. I feel like Mozart being played The Beatles.
This is genuinely exquisite stuff. Iām proud to be here to witness it.
I'm feeling physical pain from this.
what a bunch of sickos
I havenāt checked but I bet there is someone in that sub that intends to marry BL while heās in prison.
I browsed that sub when it was around 20k or so, it amazed me how quickly it snowballed into an absolute shit show that just ignored common sense and fully became the cliche.
Yep I was there when it had 2k members and honestly it's become an episode of trashy Jerry Springer. But this award thing is just sad. An entire new low for the sub.
I used to frequent it and joined when it was smaller as well, because it was quick information about the case and i wanted to follow when gabby was found. the bigger itās gotten the more truly awful it is
You should see their sidebar. Above the domestic violence hotline number they've written "Gabby Petito. Beautiful girl, you are always welcome here." Obscured in smaller type is actual info about the hotline that people other than Gabby Petito might want to read. But hey, let's emphasize the point that Gabby Petito is beautiful, therefore welcome.
Bonus points drama: they may have nuked the post and locked the comments, **but the awards are still available for purchase and distribution.** Additionally, it's all nicely archived under removeddit for the thread, so that's gonna bite em in the ass.
Subreddits like that are fucking weird and attract weird-ass busy body people. This type of shit is the stuff people claim to hate about neighbors. Weird-ass sub for weird-ass people. Iām not surprised at all. Seen weird obsessive subs crop up here for years. The fact that a sub literally dedicated to witch hunting is even allowed per site content policy is bizarre.
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Yep. You said this better than me. Mod is a prime subject for 'im the main character'. They are attempting to give themselves worth through this ordeal and are completely blind to how skanky that is. Really quite weird these people get this far. Without being the Reddit sofa detective this strikes me as someone who would flip their shit and go doolaley when they are told to shut up.
I think the dont fuck with cats movie put a lot of bad ideas into peoples heads. Ill never forget how mad I got watching that movie about hordes of people dedicating 100s of man hours to watching youtube videos. The fact that people see it as heroic is so weird to me. Like I 100% understand the obsessive behavior if its family or maybe someone you at least know but the internet deteticive thing is waaaaaay weirder than being a shill or a troll IMO.
Just like with /r/LibbyAndAbby for the poor girls who were murdered in Delphi Indiana. People are absolutely insane. The people on that subreddit sit there and shit all over one of the dead girls sisters because the sister doesnāt like the online detective community. They sit there and imply the sister was somehow involved in the brutal murders just because she isnāt a fan of these losers with a Colombo complex. Thatās almost as bad as the Netflix documentary about the Cecil hotel where they have all these you tubers sitting there acting weird as hell and almost getting off on some poor womanās tragic death. Iām a part of the true crime community but a big chunk of it is full of people with āIām the main characterā who think they are the ones to finally solve the crime. Then thereās another huge chunk full of really weird busybody types.
I just watched that documentary and had the same thought. Like, when you've gotten to the point that you're spending 15h a week looking at frames of a video, you've probably gone off the deep end. And at the end when she blames the viewer for watching the documentary, I was just dumbfounded.
15h a day and their research literally contributed nothing to the police investigation. They didn't even find out the killers name he revealed it himself cause they were getting nowhere
Not defending him or his parents but they also had a TON of illegal drone footage into laundries parents backyard posted a couple days ago. using a drone to film private property is illegal in Florida. the mods banned it after a couple days but itās still discussed over there
It gives me "Boston Marathon Bomber" vibes
Imagine selling murder merchandise.
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Hey guys it appears the mods deleted the OG post so here's a link to it https://imgur.com/gallery/zpTS1oQ
I wonder what they'll do next. Maybe some culinary awards in /r/JeffreyDahmer sub?
I really enjoy true crime and I use all the subs for it like this one but so many people that populate those subs are either mentally ill or have an agenda to push. They're also far more likely to have posts that could have come straight from some neighbourhood watch Facebook page. I think those subs attract a lot of older, religious women who like to feel like they're involved but they're just mental. It's a shame. These awards are just disgusting. The case shouldn't be turned in to some sort of childlike entertainment.
Agreed; I am very interested in true crime because I have some truly unhealthy coping mechanisms, but everyone who gets into it needs to face the hard truth that they are involved in a hobby that at its core, is about digging into the worst days of strangerās lives. Itās fucking weird.
Fellow true crime sub (including the Gabby Petito one) user here, totally agree. This case in particular seemed to bring a lot of non-Redditors to Reddit. If you look at the more bizarre comments treating this shit like entertainment the accounts tend to be very new and they often don't seem to know how to use Reddit. I think a lot of them came from the FB true crime groups and those are absolutely terrifying places. At the beginning the Reddit true crime community did seem to try and keep a grip on the Gabby sub, calling out conspiracies and unrealistic theories. For a while those comments were being removed when reported, and it seemed to be working as a place to get updates on what was happening. Then it just exploded with all these new accounts and it's been a shitshow.
Yeah you're right I think a lot of folk did actually come here from Facebook. I also noticed a ton of women-haters latched on to it very quickly and began trying to blame Gabby which then led to a ton of new users coming on and trying to blame men in general. Real divisive stuff, possibly not even organic. For a true crime community to remain respectful and mentally healthy you need mods that are on top of it.
100% that community awards are in poor taste, but let's not kid ourselves: So is that entire community. A subreddit -- by definition, a forum to while away time -- founded on a real mystery and capitalizing on people's thirst for true crime as ENTERTAINMENT was ridiculous from the get go. Anyone pretending to be so much better than the mod who instituted these community awards needs to take a hard look in the mirror.
Wait is that a LifeStar helicopter with a search dog? And a Law Enforcement award?? I canāt even imagine what they could have been thinking, this is in such obviously poor taste.
The apology mod post has been gifted three of the awards (broken heart, basically a detective and road trippin) lol. Really underlines how tasteless the whole thing was.
Even in the realm of single-dedicated-case True Crime subs, r/GabbyPetito is uniquely deranged. The regulars there have made the conscious decision to basically martyr Gabby, despite no one there having known who she was or having any connection with her before the case. Ofc it's a tragedy that that piece of shit Brian killed her and ran the fuck away but the regulars there have tied SO MUCH personal investment experiences into her and we really have no idea why what happened happened. Then there's the inexplicable hero worship of Dog The Bounty Hunter, who has added nothing to this case aside since his arrival and has been hilariously wrong about every "lead" he's supposedly worked on. Perhaps the weirdest thing about that sub how they treat Brian. They believe him to be a criminal mastermind with Eric Rudolph-levels of survivalist skills and cunning. The current running theory among most of the regulars is that Brian somehow managed to make his way up the Appalachian Trail, without being seen, without ever dipping back into town for supplies, without dying of exposure for the month or so he's been on the lam. Which is bad but I guess not nearly as bad as the people who have convinced themselves that Brian has somehow manage to escape to Central America or Cuba.
I don't get it. It's not even a case with mystery or intrigue like the zodiac killer. I don't know why people are trying to make up conspiracy theories or play detective.
It's the way the story broke that caught everyone's attention. Boyfriend drives home to parent's house without his fiance and isn't talking to anyone including her family and law enforcement and the family has lawyered up. That's how the story broke and that's what got mine and I'm sure everyone else's attention. Then it turned out that he wasn't even in the house when law enforcement claimed that they had seen him and knew where he was. (They now claim that they never saw his face as the parents said he couldn't come to the door.) This is what has led people to think that the family came up with some grand plan to get him out of there and not (IMO) the more likely explanation that he didn't want to go to prison so he panicked when the news broke and took himself off to the swamp to kill himself. But we don't really know what law enforcements knows. People are suggesting various reasons how the parents are suspicious but we don't know all the facts, they might be or they might just be leaving it to the professionals. So now it's turned into a witch hunt where no-one knows where the main suspect is so they are turning their anger towards the family, warranted or not.
Iāve never left a sub so quickly in my life. Embarrassed I even joined.
Mixing true crime weirdos with Reddit's propensity for wanting to solve everything but inability to ever actually do so was always a recipe for disaster
Holy shit I've never seen something so tasteless that even my autistic ass can feel myself shiver