Why There Will Be More Carlee Russells In The Future

When I look at the circumstances behind the Carlee Russell case, I can’t help but think that social media played a role in what happened.  Specifically, Russell faked both the reporting of an abandoned child and as well faked her own kidnapping.  Which, this resulted in a few days in mid July of this year – where the whole nation was captivated by the issues surrounding what may have been both Russell and the child’s demise.  Then when Russell popped back into life so to speak – it was found that it was all a big hoax. 

In the aftermath of the truth fully coming out – Russell has now been charged with two misdemeanors for making false statements to police.  Because of the frustration surrounding the minimal charges Russell received – Hoover Police Department Chief Nicolas Derzis indicated by state law that was all Russell could be charged with.  Nevertheless, Derzis also said he intended to push for enhancements to state law which address false reporting of kidnapping or other violent crimes.

Right now there is a dichotomy of Russell being the victim and her needing to be fully punished for what she did.  At this point – my position about Russell is on the side of her being fully punished for what she did.  But I digress – and again, the other side of that dichotomy is Russell needs our sympathy as she is the victim according to her family, boyfriend, etc.  It must be noted here on the victim side of things that this is inclusive of her being a black female.  An elephant in the room which could possibly stamp out Russell’s full punishment even if the laws supported such.

This gets me back to the role social media played in this debacle – specifically in the victim side of that dichotomy.  It is clear to me that social media has resulted in a phenomena called “attention porn.”  And it is also clear to me that when people who are addicted to attention porn can’t satisfy their cravings for attention – they wind up doing things like Russell did.  What I’m getting at is social media platforms like TikTok, YT, Instagram, etc all are the gateway drugs when it comes to attention porn.  In this case, the social media gateway drugs lead to the hard core drugs of a concocted story for the purpose of feeding that growing craving for attention.

It is that growing craving for attention that then becomes the reasoning behind my stance for pretty much throwing the book at Russell.  By doing so – it would make others who are considering doing something like Russell did have serious second thoughts about considering executing a IRL concocted story.  As well, this would cut down on the resources being diverted away from cases wherein people have been truly abducted or where children have truly been abandoned.  Lastly, it would force people like Russell to fully be accountable for their actions no matter what race or sex they are.