There Are No Girls on the Internet. As a production of My Heart Radio and Unboss Creative. I'm Bridget Todd and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet. We've talked a lot on this show about social media amateur detectives and how dangerous they can be. And if you're on TikTok, you might have seen a good example of what I mean play out in real time on TikTok. This week on TikTok, Sabrina pratts bio reads, I'm a thirty or four year old male who has been dressing
up since I was little, working on coming out. Sabrina likes to film videos dancing and high heeled boots, tight jeans, flashy blouses and sometimes a ponytailed, shoulder length wig in what looks like a visibly old, deteriorating home. There's ladders and buckets in the background and stains on the floor, and then a few of the videos of Sabrina dancing there's a monitor in the background with grainy images on them. Now, maybe these videos look a little bit weird actually, if
you've never been inside a really old building before. And at first people on TikTok were using Sabrina's videos to make jokes about being in sad looking locations, things like a night out at your hometown bar the night before Thanksgiving. But increasingly people on TikTok started accusing Sabrina of being up to something more sinister than just dancing. TikTok's algorithm surface videos on my for you page, some of which had tens of thousands of views, accusing Sabrina of being
a serial killer. The evidence amateur Sluice on TikTok said those stains on the floor were actually blood stains. Those difficult to see grainy images on the monitors behind Sabrina, well, they said that those were video feeds so Sabrina could keep tabs on captive victims. One video even said that Sabrina's flashy heels and outfits were the clothing belonging to women being held captive in the old home before it
was shut down. I scrolled a Facebook page full of hundreds of wannabe detectives making useless claims and accusations about Sabrina and Sabrina's family. Well, those people finally got to the bottom of this conspiracy theory, and get ready to have your mind blown. It turns out Sabrina works in construction and purchases old homes to renovate, and Sabrina likes filming dancing TikTok's while taking breaks from work, just like
so many other people trying to have fun on the platform. Now, Sabrina made a video on TikTok trying to put these conspiracy theories to rest while sobbing, saying I didn't do anything wrong and I'm sick of being hurt by this. I'm just like anyone else. I just want to be loved and accepted and I'm not. I'm getting treated worse
than anyone coming out like me. I would have posted Sabrina's audio here, but honestly it's really hard to listen to because it's just so sad, and I think it shows that there is a baseline assumption around who the Internet is for and who it isn't for, and who could expect to feel safe and seen there. People compared Sabrina to Buffalo Bill to see Real Killer from Silence
of the Lambs. Just because Sabrina wears flashy blouses and high heels, it should go without saying that that does not mean someone is a serial killer, and that comparison alone is so cruel. It also comes off as a really classist. Just because Sabrina is spending time and a dilapidate at home, that does not mean that someone must
be being held against their will there. And while some users have taken down their videos from TikTok making these kinds of accusations about Sabrina as of me recording this, there are still plenty of videos on that platform racking up views who still maintain that something unseemly is going on in Sabrina's home, even after Sabrina tearfully spoke out. So where does it end? Now? I get why engaging
in a conspiracy theory online can seem fun. Who doesn't like the feeling of figuring out a puzzle, But when thousands of people are using someone's actual life for this
kind of cruel entertainment, it's not just harmless fun. And I get that thinking that you're putting together the clues to bring down a serial killer or from your phone, it's probably a lot more exciting to believe than the reality that there are people out there that are living very different lives from our own, and that that doesn't make them any less human or me. They deserve to be cruelly harassed just for making videos on the Internet. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or
just want to say hi? You can re us at Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangodi dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Tod. It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Terry Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you want to help us grow,
rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I have to be be Will