No matter what your position regarding GamerGate was, there's no denying that it left an impact on gaming culture. The end of the old guard of game's journalism, the birth of new gaming sites, the rise of the alt-right, GamerGate was a microcosm of the larger Culture War that is still sweeping the Internet, the US, maybe even the world. There were many lessons to be learned from GamerGate; had the major population actually listened, maybe they could have avoided Trump's election as President.
It is my personal belief that, had many Reddit mods not deleted so many posts discussing Zoe Quinn's indiscretions, then the "Quinnspiracy" would not have occurred. Which in part probably would have meant that the "Gamers are Dead" articles would not have been written, which in turn would not have given rise to GG. This mass deletion of posts caught the attention of several small name Youtubers such as MundaneMatt and Internet Aristocrat, whose exposure exploded due to this incident. Further, Zoe's attempts to delete said Youtubers' videos about her indiscretions not only weakened her standing, it strengthened the idea that Zoe had something to hide.
Lesson 3: The Media exists to dictate what you should think.
Part of Marx' philosophy is that there exists two structures that allow the Burgeois to keep their power: the Repressive structure (uses force to uphold the law) and the Ideological (influences the Proletariat to accept the law). Mass media is seen by modern Marxists as part of the latter, and GamerGate demonstrated the truth behind this idea when, on August 28th of 2014, several online publications released several articles all saying the same thing: that "gamers" were no longer a valid audience.
The intention behind these publications was so transparent, it was almost insulting. By claiming the "gamer" identity to be invalid, gaming companies, as well as companies that advertise in online spaces that cater to the gaming community, would no longer need to pander to said audience in order to sell their products. This was a shameless attempt by the gaming press at exerting dominance over the gaming community, to show the latter that it was the former which decided what was "Right Think" and what was "Wrong Think." But this leads to...
Lesson 4: The Power of the People
It says a lot that, after the "gamers are dead" fiasco, many of these publications saw a steep drop in visitors. Once Operation Disrespectful Nod began, many of these sites saw mighty blows to their ad revenues because many companies began to remove their ads from these publications. Sites like Rock Paper Shotgun, Giant Bomb, and Polygon began to implement disclosures for their ethical standings.
This emailing campaign really sent a message to the gaming press: gamers were far from dead; they were mad as hell and they weren't taking it anymore. They were going to hit these publications right where it hurts the most, in their wallets.
Lesson 5: The more you try to silence or shame your opposition, the more emboldened they will become
A big part of what gave GamerGate steam, and keeps many supporters in the movement to this day, is the constant barrage of insults thrown at them by their opponents, labeling them as sexists. This backfired horribly, because GGers didn't see themselves as any of these things; in fact, they saw their opponents as being the true racists and sexists. Being called names did nothing for or against either side of the debate; eventually, the accusation of "sexist" lost a lot of its power because of how disgustingly often it got thrown around. We may well be getting close to the time when an accusation of being sexist will be met with "sure, buddy," or worse, with a "so?"
Lesson 6: From the ashes of one tyrant may well rise another
Animal Farm is often praised for being anti communist. People who view it as such demonstrate that they have scant few critical thinking skills, as the real lesson is about how tyranny can easily rise from good intentions. My time in GamerGate, sadly, has shown me that this is as much true for gaming culture as it is for farm animals.
I joined GG because I believed in freedom of creativity, in the rights of the consumer, and because I knew I needed to oppose the Limousine Socialists that had become so powerful in games media and that thought they could dictate what people should think. I wanted to knock people like Leigh Alexander, Ben Kuchera, Ian Miles Cheong, and the like off their high horses and replace them with journalists who actually care about gaming as much as I do. But instead, what did I get?
I got Milo Yiannopolous, a man who is unafraid of shaming people for their disabilities, as well as for being as much of a con artist as Sarkeesian. Ian Miles Cheong jumped ship, and he became not the antithesis of the old game journos, but rather the Right Wing version of them. People like Shoeonhead and Mercedes Carrera, whom I thought were so intelligent and rational, turned out to have little more than Fox News level of idiocy. Their Islamophobia, their disdain for their fellow man just for being religious, Carrera's willingness to celebrate Fidel Castro's death and brag about it, have really disappointed and disgusted me. MundaneMatt, whom I held to be a rational voice of reason, turned out to be a douche bag.
After reading this, many GamerGaters, particularly the Right Wingers, will call me a cuck. They'll read the word "Islamophobia" and ask me if I'm enjoying the blood in my hands for defending "that disgusting religion." Knowing this, I stand by my words regardless, because I know what I stand for. What does hurt me, though, is the knowledge that, two years ago, those same people probably would have called me a friend, specifically because we were in the same fight.
I was so happy to be a part of the movement that took down Gawker that I never realized until it was too late that I inadvertently helped prop up Breitbart.
Animal Farm is often praised for being anti communist. People who view it as such demonstrate that they have scant few critical thinking skills, as the real lesson is about how tyranny can easily rise from good intentions. My time in GamerGate, sadly, has shown me that this is as much true for gaming culture as it is for farm animals.
I joined GG because I believed in freedom of creativity, in the rights of the consumer, and because I knew I needed to oppose the Limousine Socialists that had become so powerful in games media and that thought they could dictate what people should think. I wanted to knock people like Leigh Alexander, Ben Kuchera, Ian Miles Cheong, and the like off their high horses and replace them with journalists who actually care about gaming as much as I do. But instead, what did I get?
I got Milo Yiannopolous, a man who is unafraid of shaming people for their disabilities, as well as for being as much of a con artist as Sarkeesian. Ian Miles Cheong jumped ship, and he became not the antithesis of the old game journos, but rather the Right Wing version of them. People like Shoeonhead and Mercedes Carrera, whom I thought were so intelligent and rational, turned out to have little more than Fox News level of idiocy. Their Islamophobia, their disdain for their fellow man just for being religious, Carrera's willingness to celebrate Fidel Castro's death and brag about it, have really disappointed and disgusted me. MundaneMatt, whom I held to be a rational voice of reason, turned out to be a douche bag.
After reading this, many GamerGaters, particularly the Right Wingers, will call me a cuck. They'll read the word "Islamophobia" and ask me if I'm enjoying the blood in my hands for defending "that disgusting religion." Knowing this, I stand by my words regardless, because I know what I stand for. What does hurt me, though, is the knowledge that, two years ago, those same people probably would have called me a friend, specifically because we were in the same fight.
I was so happy to be a part of the movement that took down Gawker that I never realized until it was too late that I inadvertently helped prop up Breitbart.
Lesson 7: EVERY movement has bad apples. Weed them out ASAP
The absolute first time I started having doubts about my fellow Gamergaters was when I was part of a Facebook group called the GamerGate Ultras. We were 500 strong, good pals who often joked together, hung out on Google Hangouts, etc. We supported each other.
But one day, one of the members of our group said something about ISIS. He said, and I paraphrase, "we need to hurt those bastards in a way they can never recover from. Target their kids and families, kill them, and that will end them." I was shocked and appalled. Ignoring that this had nothing to do with ethics in games journalism, this guy was advocating the murder of CHILDREN for the sins of their fathers. I left that group, disgusted with what had happened. That was around mid 2015.
So many things I wanted to say. "Then how are you any different than them?" Or maybe "Pick up a gun and do it yourself if you've got the balls instead of making some soldier boy do it for you." But in the end, I said nothing. What would have been the point? A random asshole on the Internet said some random shit; anything I would have done would have been symbolic at best. I kept telling myself "people like this are beyond reasoning with."
But maybe if I had been less afraid of what other people think of me, I wouldn't be so disappointed in myself.
This got me to thinking about Social Justice Warriors. It's very easy to create an "US or THEM" narrative, but life isn't this black and white. I know there had to have been more moderate voices opposing GamerGate, but just as the liberal members of GG were drowned out by the more Right leaning members, so too do I imagine many moderate SJW's were drowned out by the crazies. This is true for all movements, be they Occupy, Black Lives Matter, the Tea Party,
And finally...
Lesson 8: Trust but Verify
In this day and age of "fake news", I feel that one of GG's earliest slogans rings truer than ever. Trust but verify, TRUST that you're hearing the truth, but VERIFY to make sure. Don't be so quick to dismiss something as false news, instead get the facts. If the facts counter what the news is saying, then you're being told a lie. And if all you find are news stories all saying the same thing, take it with a grain of salt.
This slogan was written in direct contrast to the one Anita Sarkeesian and her ilk were pushing at the time, that of "Listen and Believe." It was meant to be about rape victims, to LISTEN to their stories and BELIEVE them without a second thought. This of course led to the notion that women could falsely claim that some guy raped them, and thanks to LnB, we'd have to believe her unconditionally. Trust but Verify instead called for VERIFICATION of her claims, with the TRUST that she was telling the truth until otherwise found to be lying.
This springs to mind the recent "PizzaGate" scandal, where Hillary Clinton was accused of running a child porn ring from the basement of a pizzeria. This rumor was ran as TRUE among several right wing sites, such as Infowars. In the end, it was reputable sites like NBC, and news channels like Fox News, that proved "PizzaGate" to have been a hoax.
Trust but Verify, this applies to everything; from rape accusations, to anything you hear on the news. Do not be satisfied with just listening to the news, VERIFY it. Because the media, they want to tell you what to think. Don't let them.
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