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In clear prose, @BriannaWu takes us through the birth of today’s culture of public harassment which helped normalize Trump’s “politics” of the personal attack in @NYTimesOpinion
#gamergate was FIVE years ago
#gamergate was FIVE years ago
“I meticulously documented all of it — the death threats, the rape threats, the identity theft... I waited for law enforcement to prosecute the men who had threatened to murder me and other women... I waited for justice. I am still waiting.” 
I missed that there was an impotent FBI report in January 2017. It’s not like there was nothing ELSE going on that month. *cough*
theverge.com/2017/1/27/1441…
theverge.com/2017/1/27/1441…
Although @BriannaWu situates her essay in the gaming industry, where her experience rests, this economic sector has no monopoly on harassment OR crappy working conditions.
“The perception was that women were leaving because of harassment. The reality was that we were leaving because we felt underpaid, underpromoted and unable to balance the demands of work and life.”
For this fifth anniversary, NYT also published @cwarzel’s analysis (8/15) which details the types of attacks, trolls and lies which would be a central playbook of the 2016 presidential campaign. Including Bannon and Milo and Breitbart.
“All the anger, all the toxicity and fear of being replaced by a culture more focused on social justice — it all came together in a spectacularly awful way.” @wphillips49, assistant professor at @SyracuseUniv
Aside, read @wphillips49 report The Oxygen of Amplification from last year:
datasociety.net/output/oxygen-…
(@jayrosen_nyu, have you seen her tips for reporters?)
datasociety.net/output/oxygen-…
(@jayrosen_nyu, have you seen her tips for reporters?)
Back to @cwarzel :
“Steve Bannon, at the time Breitbart’s chairman, saw #Gamergate as an opportunity to ignite a dormant, internet-native audience toward a focused and familiar cause: that feminism and social justice had spiraled out of control.”
“Steve Bannon, at the time Breitbart’s chairman, saw #Gamergate as an opportunity to ignite a dormant, internet-native audience toward a focused and familiar cause: that feminism and social justice had spiraled out of control.”
This NYT series is essential reading not only because it shines a light on 2016’s politics-by-troll but because we have made little progress in forestalling a repeat in 2020.
NOR have we acknowledged the underlying fear that fuels this hate.
NOR have we acknowledged the underlying fear that fuels this hate.
It is the fear of “losing power” that is UNEARNED, power that comes via accident of birth — with being white and/or male but especially white-AND-male. #WhiteSupremacy #whiteFragility
Until we have an open and frank discussion about privilege ... white-as-default-setting ... there is no way we will be able to stem any expression of hate that is rooted in fear.
Technology cannot save us from ourselves.
Technology cannot save us from ourselves.
Please #unroll unroll @threadreaderapp
