GamerGaters claim they’re on the side of truth and righteousness, but they sure do love monologuing like cartoon villains.
They claim to be shocked by alleged evidence of journalistic collusion, yet they happily plot strategies and “operations” together both in secret and in broad daylight. They claim to be about ethics, but regularly employ not-so-subtle subterfuge to try to disguise their carefully coordinated propaganda campaigns as spontaneous uprisings.
This week, GamerGaters on 8chan launched a new “operation” to win over the hearts and minds of the masses on Tumblr. And it’s as ethically bankrupt as anything they’ve ever done.
Operation Firefly, as it’s officially known, is an attempt to take the GamerGate “fight” to a “new frontier.” Tumblr. As the originator of the initiative explains it in a somewhat less-than-stirring manifesto:
In recent weeks the revolt has been getting bogged down in a stalemate. Useless drama and e-celebrity happenings are sidetracking us and sapping our strength. We’ve become demoralized and are losing momentum. …
Time for a new frontier, a new fight, a new chance to spread the truth.
Apparently, the GamerGaters are beginning to realize that their current strategy of being dicks to people on Twitter isn’t paying off quite as well as they had hoped.
While Twitter can be considered an important part of the movement, it is one of the worst places to focus our efforts. Too much time, energy, and attention is currently being wasted there. … The only things twitter is good for are out-of-context quips and angry outbursts.
Twitter is wearing us down, and it’s becoming a red herring/albatross around our neck. It’s time to use our limited resources where they will be more effective.
So they’re Tumblr-bound.
As a group we’ve done a horrible job at reaching out to others and spreading our message. That’s a problem. Instead of waiting for people to come to us, we need to go to them. That’s why we need to go to Tumblr. Going forward, only 25% of the people who are currently on Twitter should continue to post and debate there. 25% should redeploy to fight on Youtube and defend our home turf while the other 50% should go to Tumblr.
But isn’t Tumblr full of, you know, girls? Well, yes, but even this obstacle can be surmounted with some calculated pandering.
Most users on Tumblr are teenagers between 12 and 20, and most of them are girls. They are very interested in fandoms, anime, and other memes. … A good idea would be to use popular anime characters and pokemon to get the #Gamergate message out. Another idea would be to create crossover fanart with Vivian James in it.
That’s right: use an imaginary girl to win over the real girls. Just try to avoid being too logical, because, as everyone knows, girls don’t logic.
Tumblr enjoys appeals to emotion. While rational debate is important, make sure you are making it personal.
And remember to use GamerGate’s “female and minority” members as your shield! Oh, sorry, as your totally not a shield.
A major effort will be spent on pushing our female and minority voices to the forefront via #notyourshield. the goal is to discredit and debunk the narrative and shut it off at the source.
Operation Firefly doesn’t have to limit itself to the GamerGate hashtag on Tumblr. Go ahead and flood all discussions of vidya games with your propaganda. Just don’t make it too obvious, guys!
In order to be effective, you must also talk about Gamergate in other relevant hashtags, such as popular video game titles like “Mario”.
And make a bit point of pretending to be a victim. Sorry, not pretending. Authentically being a victim.
Tumblr is a different place than what you’re used to, so take time to lurk if you must. You are the victim in order to gain sympathy and support.
Remember to support your comrades!
Any time you see a pro-gg post, you need to follow the poster and reblog it in order to signal boost. This increases solidarity and cohesion. Build numbers and stay in contact with each other.
Just don’t lay it on too thick with your propagandizing, lest the Tumblrites catch on to the fact that you’re part of an invading propaganda army. Maybe reblog some kitten pics too.
It’s important to be a real person and not some faceless nobody. This means you should round out your blog by reblogging interesting content you like from other, non gamer-gate related things.
And try to lay off the scary skull imagery.
[T]umblr enjoys relatable and homely things. Consider when conveying your opinions to produce approachable and likeable art pieces. Look at the “art motivation” comics, high reblogged and non sexual fan art, cute stories and the like. …
Don’t be afraid to turn Vivian James into Hello Kitty or a pony.
When cynically setting up a throwaway blog to spread GamerGate propaganda, try to avoid looking too much like a GamerGater cynically setting up a throwaway blog to spread GamerGate propaganda.
[H]aving a profile say why you love video games, why you’re a decent person and concluding with “I am a person and I support gamergate” will show you’re human. … If you are making a new account, don’t choose a name that has anything to do with video games or gg.
Yeah, the “Tumblrinas” will never be able to figure out what’s going on.
Oh, and do your best to not make it too obvious what a hateful dickweasel you really are.
[T]alking like a cunt can be really fucking hostile even if it sharply nails the point. I get some of you guys enjoy the shitslinging language and the fuckyouisms of the prominent youtuber, but it’s not inviting. That’s not to say you have to read like a Disney script, but the language you use will be one of the deciding factors in who you appeal to.
Sounds like a foolproof plan!
On 8chan, some of the regulars put forth suggestions of their own.
CUTE KITTENS ASSEMBLE!
Meanwhile, another 8chan anon tried to convince the GamerGate invaders to ix-nay the ane-Bay memes, at least on Tumblr.
So, y’know how Bane is basically the mascot of GamerGate in the chan community? He’s a good fit: A brutal revolutionary and since he’s a Christopher Nolan character, he’s automatically a man’s man, which for some reason appeals to a community defined by their love of a sedentary hobby. …
Bane will not work on tumblr. He’s a bad guy. He’s all big and beefy and while some subset of tumblr’s mostly female audience will like him, most prefer dexterous pretty boys (hence the neverending love for Benedict Cumberpatch and David Tennant).
So what can GamerGaters do to get around the Bane ban?
[O]ur tumblr mascot needs to be Katniss. She’s in an upcoming movie which means even tumblrites with extremely short attention spans know about her. She’s a revolutionary fighting against a corrupt government. She’s a teenage girl which makes her easier for the average tumblrite to associate with her. On tumblr, GG is Katniss.
Uh oh, nobody tell Vivian James she’s got some competition.
So how is the invasion going? Well, if you go to the GamerGate tag on Tumblr, you will indeed see a bunch of GamerGate spam in it.
So by GameGate standards, I guess they are WINNING.
@tinyorc: One’s mileage may vary. The PhDs I know are attached to departments without grad programs, so I honestly don’t know what they’d do with TAs if they had them. Frankly, I’d sincerely hope that any TA’s responsibility would be limited to purely objective assessment…
@Mezza: No, he hasn’t justified why we shouldn’t. He’s only made it sound as if SJWs have one-track minds and one-dimensional thinking, which is what ‘gaters want to hear.
Correct.
Absolutely nothing.
What gets me…the disingenuousness, the bias, and the appeal to authority. “Oh, this one feminist student won’t lay off gender and won’t demonstrate other critical modes, so feminists can’t think any other way.” BS. The PhD I know best is a feminist, she’s been recognized at her uni as the best professor in the college of arts & humanities, and she’s responsible for acquainting her students with at least a half-dozen schools of theory. “Oh, I’m a grad student, so I can tell that all the gamers want is a New Crit approach to game reviewing.” Well, tough. If gamers want serious, genuine criticism, they don’t get to dictate from whence it comes or what flavor it is—but that’s not *really* what they want, so why pretend otherwise?
That’s been their shtick ever since they started their specious nonsense about “ethics in videogame journalism” hasn’t it? Distract casual observers with a neverending supply of red herrings to garner support or at least distract from the awful shit we do.
“such as popular video game titles like ‘Mario'”
This reads like someone reading a focus group’s results on what kids are playing these days. I bet they pronounce it “Mare-ee-oh,” too.
What are they, Jesuit missionaries coming to the New World to spread Christendom to the heathen Huron and Iroquois?
These wankers behave exactly like a religious cult!
Here’s an example of their efforts, you can see by the notes it’s going swimmingly ha ha!
http://sunhawk.tumblr.com/post/102232666610/lorentztransformation-rabbivole
I love that the majority of the reblogs and comments are a mixture of confusion and scorn
(I’ve been lurking here for a while, enjoying the mocking of misogyny and manbabies, yellooo! *waves*)
It might seem like Katniss is being put against her will into a brutal death game, but actually it’s about ethics in game journalism.
Hahaha, the various comments on that tumblr post are funny. It makes me wish I was unaware of GG so I could be like “what the ever-loving fuck does this mean?!” Beware dyed hair!
Also, now that I think about it more…that meme is fucking…stupid. Not that I’d expect anything less from GG. Are they trying to accuse Zoe of using GG to get ahead somehow even though the main kick off of their movement was her ex posting that long screed about her. Then her being doxxed and continuously harassed? Did she actually use mind control power to turn innocent men into total raging assholes that just had to doxx and harass her so she could rake in some cash in return for her personal safety and mental heath?
Huh? Well, I guess I should have learned my lesson by now when it comes to trying to unravel GG memes.
sunhawk, hi and welcome!
I loved the “how do I dye my hair to clash with my fedora” comment, and the “The dyed hair is not the issue, it is about those who would use dyed hair for personal gain” twaddle.
I have been dyeing my hair for decades and nobody told me I could make money from it! WHY IS THIS NOT KNOWN
It is a delight to see the innocent asking, dyed hair, what fresh hell is this?
If it’s all about ethics in gaming journalism, how does that square with:
Premise A. The notion that women devs in gaming are not producing “real” games – i.e. (invalid) criticism
Premise B. The demand that only reviewers who will give a game a positive review should be involved in gaming reviews – i.e. only positive reviews.
The conclusion “ethics in gaming journalism” doesn’t follow from Premise B at all, nor from Premises A and B in conjunction.
Just something I was mulling over in idle moments of thought today.
@Sunhawk: Thanks for the laugh. They REALLY thought a message on dyed hair would be effective…
…on tumblr? Seriously? These people are walking parody.
Best comment.
Oh, if only that was the case. Also my, imaginary Zoe Quinn, what big teeth you have.
(I always thought dyeing your hair was a way to use rather than gain money, but perhaps I’ve been doing it wrong.)
Does dyed hair mean only hair dyed colors not found in nature. Because my hair is dyed but you wouldn’t know it by looking at me because I just lighten and brighten it a bit. It’s a reddish brown color. So should gamer bros beware of me or not?
WWTH, I think it is probably the think where men claim “I like it when women don’t wear makeup” but by “don’t wear makeup” they mean “where a style of makeup considered subtle and ‘natural’.” Dyeing your hair is… just not all that uncommon. Sure, funky colors are unusual out of school, but…
I tried to dye my hair fire-engine red once. It didn’t work, because I refused to bleach it. The dye made my hair kind of shiny in the sunlight, though. Actually, none of the dyes I did myself really worked, again because I was trying for auburn and refused to bleach.
My sister has dyed her hair for so long she has kind of forgotten what color it is naturally. I’m not joking–we had a conversation over Facebook the last time she considered going natural. She was going to try to match it with dye…
Wait, how did dyed hair get into all this? How is that related to ethics in game journalism? (I know the answer, I’m just saying.)
It’ll be 3 posts of reblogged kitten GIFS and then an entire page of violently misogynistic porn and rants about bitches not dating them.
This is not even an exaggeration. A typical one: http://theijiinstormandsong.tumblr.com/
One-third cute animal gifs, one-third reblogged 4chan memes, one-third comments like “that bitch is just a dumb cunt.”
Changing hearts and minds.
It’s the same for me, actually. I’m 34 and have been dying my hair since I was 13. My mom was gray by my age and her sister was gray even earlier so I figure there’s no point in trying to go natural. I’ll probably just find out I’m gray. IIRC my hair was brown in the winter and rusty in the summer when the sun brightened it.
WHTM’s own inurashii has a post up on Tumblr querying/mocking the inexplicable* dyed hair hatred.
* “inexplicable” except if you know that they hate literally anything associated with Zoe Quinn in any way whatsoever. Also Randi Harper.
So the plan to fool the very people they’re against (female geeks, SJWs, girls in general) into joining them has been a flop. What a surprise!
I enjoyed these comments –
“‘what does dyed hair have to do with it?’
misogyny
the answer to any gg-related question you have is always misogyny”
“fuckboys in action”
“i have no idea what this post even means or was supposed to mean”
“I feel like they are unaware that that propaganda poster is more about them than anyone they think they’re fighting against.”
Thus Spake Zarastrivingally:
It’s not just Zoe Quinn and Randi Harper. Hatred of dyed hair is another little tell that gamergate has roots in the manosphere, where rants against dye jobs, tattoos, and body piercing are common.
I like that they are suggesting using Katniss as the image of their movement on tumblr, considering that a major part of the books is her frustration at being manipulated to serve as the “face” of a movement.
Best quote so far.
The dude Shaenon linked to is already getting frustrated.
So yeah, they don’t quite understand that hair dye comes in colors other than purple, pink, blue, and green. Also, feminist Tumblr has been buzzing about that Nicki Minaj video ever since it came out, do try to keep up.
Attempts damage control, just confuses people.
http://lorley.tumblr.com/post/102218215070/ceeberoni-rincewitch-inurashii-nashhha