Thread
A retrospective on Gamergate: a thread 
I'll skip the mediocre looking woman with crazy hair sleeping around for game reviews - including a married dude who was a panelist at IndieCade, where her game debuted
I'll also skip her PR rep working for Silverstring Media - part of DIGRA, an appendage of DARPA
I'll also skip her PR rep working for Silverstring Media - part of DIGRA, an appendage of DARPA
But for posterity: 
The first banwave on a website that affected people associated with "this thing of ours" was 4Chan - years before twitter dared doing anything so radical
It was also, probably, the first explicitly political banwave: while Twitter could claim doing so over some sense of civility or due to pressure for mass reports, 4Chan couldn't
Plenty of more "hot" topics have been discussed - sometimes at length, over a long period of time - up until that point that didn't attract so many, if any bans, up to the point of making them renounce to one of their core appeals ("you can say or read pretty much anything")
I think Gamergate is the only political movement or idea (whatever you consider it) created from scratch in the past decade that suffered through such an organized reaction in order to turn it anathema
Which makes it into the objectively most radical movement of the 2010s, far, far more radical than Occupy Wall Street
Worth noting that the Gamergate banwave was whole gaming internet wide. Plenty of gaming forums suddenly became divided political warzones where you either praised a fetid unscrupulous hag who had an entire industry bend over backwards for her or get kicked out
Even "I obviously don't hate women but games journalism is often quite bad and this Zoe character seems questionable" or "Didn't she drive Alec Holowka to suicide and gave no evidence of his alleged abuse?" was grounds for suspension everywhere from /v/ to Reddit
One day I'll try to look for accounts of what was going on in particular forums around this time later. All that's left is [this post has been deleted] and [user was banned for this post] in every possible way of saying that. Wonder if anything's been archived. Much to consider
I think that would be very interesting. I still don't think any other movement that wasn't overtly racist or nazi sympathetic got shot down so strongly and on a more coordinated way, even to this day, except perhaps covid "denialists"
All movements that sylize themselves as radical should be able to explain why a movement about 'ethics in videogame journalism' got a bigger response from legacy media and journalists reading from the same cue card than anything since
Except for Trump, I suppose
Except for Trump, I suppose
In spite of all this, Gamergate is called "a harassment campaign against women" on Wikipedia and every Google result, and attempts to get that changed will result you in being censored and banned wherever you try
So now let's get to the coordinated part that freaked everyone out 
It could've ended at "no fucking shit gaming journalism is just one big circlejerk of shilling" but they tried to cover it all up. The coverup was this massive lockstep "gamers are dead" campaign and making up a bunch of hooey to disguise what a bunch of snakes they are
And then came the Law & Order: SVU episode
My favorite part was afterwards a dumpy rainbow beanbag, an Armenian and a trans woman all simultaneously went "oh my God its basically my life"
My favorite part was afterwards a dumpy rainbow beanbag, an Armenian and a trans woman all simultaneously went "oh my God its basically my life"
Celebrities chimed in, the beanbag and the Armenian went to the UN, federal investigations into harassment, etc
It got wildly out of control. A bunch of people who wanted to be left alone, play vidya and call one another a bundle of sticks learned were forced to consider
It got wildly out of control. A bunch of people who wanted to be left alone, play vidya and call one another a bundle of sticks learned were forced to consider
how the media works to control narratives, especially how it only has two modes - blackout and circus
A handful of people made better than decent money from all this, and now rest on their laurels
Anyone paying attention can see the same tactics & framing in political media
A handful of people made better than decent money from all this, and now rest on their laurels
Anyone paying attention can see the same tactics & framing in political media
It turned out shitposting about controlled narratives and happenings is more fun than video games because they all suck now
Around the time the legacy media started reporting on Gamergate as sexism and even terrorism - a paper trail was quickly discovered with the help of weaponized autism. Among the dozens of ridiculous discoveries was a paper trail linking games journalists to mainstream journalists
Interesting, considering he was 'funny' at the time 
These journalists had an online community that shared information & received orders so as to more effectively influence opinion. Its why we see all newspapers put out more or less the same stories, even when they're small and relatively obscure events, or deliberate distractions
This is also why we saw every gaming journalist announce 'gamers are dead' shortly after the exact same time
Oh, there was also the paper trail linked to common core, DiGRA, the US Government, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and various outwardly socialist 'think tanks'
Oh, there was also the paper trail linked to common core, DiGRA, the US Government, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and various outwardly socialist 'think tanks'
Its magnificent in how gross it gets, you might wanna make some popcorn or freshen your drink 
Cocurrent interests were, and still are, trying to influence future opinions through video-games (as well as education, hence common core, and countless other mediums). It went all the way to the top, and so it got an insane reaction that no one could initially understand
Prior to this, no one believed in a grand conspiracy of governments and other organizations pushing things no one asked for onto the masses. This event proved to everyone involved - which was a lot of people - that a certain Mongolian basket weaving forum was right all along
The "gamers are dead" shtick was to paint 'gamers' as cis white male misogynists who hate women in their previously-male-dominated industry
The result was #NotYourShield making the rounds because it proved the opposite in the most literal sense of the term
The result was #NotYourShield making the rounds because it proved the opposite in the most literal sense of the term
Things like this, or the fact that this started out as "The Five Guys Saga" because someone who has coasted through life couldn't keep her legs closed, leading an entire industry to bend over backwards in one grand act of "M'lady" because: reasons
Or how this was when Mister Metokur went by 'Internet Aristocrat', and honestly its kinda sad how no one heeded his advice to never stop on the offensive
Gawker lost a ton of money, sponsors were pulled, a lot of ground was broken in so little time - then it ground to a halt
Gawker lost a ton of money, sponsors were pulled, a lot of ground was broken in so little time - then it ground to a halt
The leaked 4chan chatlogs from around this time - which also marks the changing of the guard among the mods - are quite telling. Allegedly Mister Metokur's full name was thrown out there with the response of not to go after him cause he's protected/out of reach
>mods
Before we get to that, it should be noted that this started as "the Five Guys Burgers and Fries" scandal and it all imploded on itself and was overshadowed by the 'Quinnspiracy', which was the conspiracy surrounding the attempted hushup of the scandal. To try and hide the
Before we get to that, it should be noted that this started as "the Five Guys Burgers and Fries" scandal and it all imploded on itself and was overshadowed by the 'Quinnspiracy', which was the conspiracy surrounding the attempted hushup of the scandal. To try and hide the
corruption, greater and deeper corruption broke ranks and revealed itself
The Streisand Effect went into full swing, and people who would perhaps not have cared nearly as much about this otherwise began demanding answers. Who was this woman, who could get articles pulled or
The Streisand Effect went into full swing, and people who would perhaps not have cared nearly as much about this otherwise began demanding answers. Who was this woman, who could get articles pulled or
manipulated from the likes of Rock Paper Shotgun, Kotaku, and Giantbomb, who had influence over Reddit, the HR teams of major gaming publishers, and even 4chan moderators?
Why would DARPA and defense contractors fund mewling little shits with no redeeming social value?
Why would DARPA and defense contractors fund mewling little shits with no redeeming social value?
Social Justiceโข was not ready to be unleashed onto the general public. It still needed time to build and ferment. Gamergate derailed this, aborting the sacrificial lamb in the crucible of the internet before it was fully gestated. SJWs were supposed to be taken seriously as real
postmodern critics of society & an 'actual' vehicle for change. They could never start a passable attempt at a revolution otherwise. Now, thanks to Gamergate, they are a complete and utter laughingstock, the butt of every joke the establishment pretends not to laugh at in private
Nobody takes them seriously except on this site and when on camera
So now the establishment has a real problem. Their sacrificial lamb is dead on arrival. The bread and circus spectacle of the establishment vanquishing the hydra to save its people, reestablishing and reaffirming
So now the establishment has a real problem. Their sacrificial lamb is dead on arrival. The bread and circus spectacle of the establishment vanquishing the hydra to save its people, reestablishing and reaffirming
their sovereignty and tightening their control in the process, is not going to happen. An aftermath that was meant to be secured by virtue of what was put into motion simply dissipated
This is one reason there is a scorched earth policy underway on the clearnet, as if a doctor is treating a patient's dandruff problem with decapitation. Subtle and hamfisted tactics - from astroturfing to shilling and even false flags - have smaller and smaller rates of return
Has anyone ever stopped to consider ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ and ๐ฌ๐๐ค else that site had dirt on? I imagine someone public who prided themselves on making bathtub troonshine and bragged about their underage catboy ranch would be worried of it was still up
These cocurrent interests tried to create a controlled opposition resolution & a bunch of NEETs and virgins living on welfare torpedoed the entire movement with legitimate grassroots counterculture. Its like special forces guys getting KOd by midgets stuffed into a clown costume
If your controlled revolution failed, and your subversion of any "revolutionary" "threat" is just spinning tired in the mud and your seat of power is being directly threatened by an outsider you cannot control or hinder - what do you do?
You go all in, and gamble everything on one last desperate thrust
And that is ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ what those cocurrent interests are doing
And that is ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ what those cocurrent interests are doing
It is getting increasingly harder to ignore how expensive, uncertain and violent things are getting out there
As long as no one says we've been in a depression since 2008, recession talk allows people to feel like they're accomplishing things like cokehads despite being all talk
As long as no one says we've been in a depression since 2008, recession talk allows people to feel like they're accomplishing things like cokehads despite being all talk
Culture war is probably the most effective distraction, allowing people to engage in "notice, and move on"
It helps people feel fulfilment and participation in the power process, even if its just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
It helps people feel fulfilment and participation in the power process, even if its just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
The reoccuring themes, framing, tactics and means of subversion we see today cut their teeth with Gamergate, and its scare to consider it was the end result of a hand being forced
I hope we can give this ordeal a proper look if and when the blood and thunder quiets down
I hope we can give this ordeal a proper look if and when the blood and thunder quiets down
