The Tinder Swindler, a three-part true-crime documentary on Netflix, has become one of the platform’s most popular new offerings. The article describes the amazing true-crime story of Simon Leviev, a cunning conman who allegedly cheated numerous wealthy ladies out of a fortune after meeting them on the Tinder dating app.
While there aren’t many real-life accounts of people using various social media platforms to defraud others, reap their benefits, and explore the harmful nature of technology meant to bring people closer together, there are several real-life accounts of people using various social media platforms to defraud others, reap their benefit, and explore the harmful nature of technology meant to bring people closer together.
15 Minutes Of Shame – Stream On HBO Max
15 Minutes of Shame, which focuses on the rise of online bullying, is ultimately a warning story about the haz ards of social media. The documentary, which was created as an experiment to bring people closer together, claims that social media and the desire for fame and money have created a cottage industry of evil.
Furthermore, the film is directed by Max Joseph, who with his prescient 2010 quasi-doc and popular Catfish spinoff show almost invented the name Catfish. This guy, who interviews Monica Lewinski in the film, understands a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of social networking.
American Murder: The Family Next Door – Stream On Netflix
American Murder follows the Watts family’s tireless search for Shanann, 34, and her two daughters, Bella and Celeste, after they vanished in Colorado. The family was ultimately able to get answers and closure thanks to various social media posts across multiple platforms that demonstrate the interconnectedness of all parties involved.
Unfortunately, when father Christopher Lee Watts was found guilty after admitting to the crimes, the results were terrible. Watts may have avoided four counts of first-degree murder if not for the help of social media in solving the case.
Don’t F**K With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer – Stream On Netflix
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer, a three-part Netflix miniseries, examines how vigilante amateur crime fighters utilized social media to organize, mobilize, and finally bring down a local criminal renowned for killing kittens. Be warned: these films are upsetting and will be shown in the documentary.
One of the amateur sleuths starts the investigati on by attaching a popular video named “1 Boy Two Kittens” from Facebook to YouTube, which became viral among like-minded justice fighters. Luka Magnotta was eventually caught for not just killing kittens but also murdering a Chinese student called Jun Lin as a result of the social media effect.
Fake Famous – Stream On HBO Max
The HBO documentary Fake Famous delves into what made The Tinder Swindler so effective as a scam artist: constructing a false identity for the world to adore. The show, however, turns the premise on its head by assigning a celebrity singer, actor, and realtor the duty of obtaining false social media followers in order to become wealthy and famous.
The cost/benefit of popularity, the fleeting nature of social media trends, the superficiality of online influencers, and more are all addressed by inventing the entire process from the start.
Fyre Fraud – Stream On Hulu
Simon used Tinder to mimic his status as a wealthy luminary looking for love in The Tinder Swindler. In the iconic Fyre Fraud documentary, Billy McFarland, a crazily ambitious charlatan, utilizes social media to influence one of the biggest collective frauds on the globe.
Indeed, by promoting the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas to be the best outdoor concert ever created, Billy and his marketing team sold social media influencers a major misleading bill of goods. Once the glittery social media influencers arrived on the island and discovered what an awful horror the event had become, Billy’s entire enterprise came falling down.
Shiny_Flakes: The Teenage Druglord – Stream On Netflix
Max Schmidt explains how he parlayed his online persona as the enigmatic Shiny Flakes to become one of Germany’s most successful drug kingpins in a crazy story that eventually inspired the dramatic Netflix series How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast).
Max was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison for his crimes, and the documentary examines how he used the internet to conceal his identity, operate exclusively from his bedroom, and avoid detection by authorities and close family members. As a result, it’s an excellent complement to The Tinder Swindler.
Swiped: Hooking Up In The Digital Age – HBO Max
Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age, a 2018 HBO documentary that analyzes the online dating phenomena that has spread in the last decade or so, is perhaps less sensationalistic than The Tinder Swindler. Nancy Jo Sales wrote and directed the documentary, which looks at gender issues, specific mating patterns, and what it means to build a meaningful connection in a so-called connected society.
The documentary also discusses how dating applications like Tinder degrade women by prioritizing the pleasures of men first and foremost. Simon Leviev has benefited from it.
The Murder Of Gabby Petito: Truth Lies, And Social Media – Stream On Peacock
In a new crime documentary on Peacock, the murder victim Gabby Petito’s killer, fiancee Brian Laundrie, is identified using the murder victim’s specially selected social media information. The two spent four months in a van together on a cross-country road trip, recording their journey on social media.
The documentary looks at how online amateur sleuths sifted through hours of Gabby’s social media posts for clues to her whereabouts and suspicions of Brian’s participation. It’s a difficult film to see, but it illustrates the value of social networking.
The Vow – Stream On HBO Max
NXIVM, the heinous sex trafficking organization, would not have progressed as far as it did without widespread recruitment on social media networks. The subject is investigated with eye-opening information. One of HBO’s best documentaries is The Vow.
The documentary looks into how disgraced actress Alison Mack worked with the group and exploited social media sites like Twitter to recruit underage sex-trafficked women. The sex cult relied on social media to support its racketeering operation and maintain a long-running conspiracy hidden.
Why Did You Kill Me? – Stream On Netflix
Why Did You Kill Me?, a horrific portrayal of a family using MySpace and other prominent online platforms to solve the murder of their beloved 24-year-old Crystal Theobold, is another must-see social media documentary.
Of course, the more Crystal’s distraught mother, Belinda Lane, looks online for answers to her daughter’s death, the more perplexed she becomes as she discovers a whole new aspect to Crystal’s online presence. Nonetheless, Belinda makes progress in her investigation over time, demonstrating both the benefits and drawbacks of social media in the process.
