The New York Times has a fascinating collection of articles today on the fifth anniversary of the start of GamerGate, and how that media ethics crusade mob harassment campaign put in place a sort of template for the culture wars of the past several years, “jump[ing] out of the obscure fever swamps of the internet and into mainstream consciousness.”
I’m quoted in Charlie Warzel’s overview, examining the ways that GamerGate helped to channel the inchoate white male angst of 4chan and gamer culture into a reactionary political crusade that continued long after the #GamerGate hashtag itself died, and that created a whole new class of “harassment influencers” who profited off the mob.
One of the media entities that exploited the GamerGate mob most effectively was, of course. Breitbart. Wurzel writes:
Breitbart’s coverage elevated Gamergate across a growing far-right media ecosystem, which drew attention from the mainstream press, who viewed the entire conflict as an online circus with endless carnival barkers. “It didn’t help that these people are, in addition to their harassing, always embroiled in their own personal dramas,” David Futrelle, a Chicago writer who covered Gamergate extensively for his blog, We Hunted The Mammoth, told me. In other words, they weren’t just pundits, they were characters. “That outrageousness made them irresistible to media,” he said. It was this attention — from influencers and the press — that cemented the status of Gamergate.
Warzel’s piece is well worth a read, as are the other pieces in the package.
–David
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@Wandering Jewterus
What a pointlessly mean thing to say. Why would you try to tear a woman down for being excited about what she’s doing? I’m not an artist myself, but as far as I know, enjoying artistic pursuits and communicating that joy to others does not prevent someone from being a “true” artist.
It’s one thing to doubt Stacey’s veracity (something I find perplexing, but you’re not at all alone in doing so) but this bit seems calculated to hurt only if her story is true. I mean, unless you’re accusing the troll of inventing the wrong kind of fake artist to roleplay.
@Stacey, please don’t dim your enthusiasm in order to become a “serious” artist who expresses themselves the “right” way. I really liked hearing about how you like to explore art through clothing and movement.
@BTD
You’ll get there eventually. I was in the same boat for the longest time. I’d look around and wonder why I was the only one with a particularly minority perspective on a subject and what was wrong with me.
Then one day (I don’t recall exactly when, though it was probably around the time I turned 40) I realized I just didn’t give a cobalt blue fuck what other people thought. Not in the petulant way that edgy kids exhibit such disdain; rather, I just didn’t feel the need for validation of my opinions. I no longer took other’s disagreements with my opinions as an indictment of those opinions. It was incredibly liberating. I recommend it to everyone.
So stick to your guns until/unless you encounter evidence that contradicts your original assessment. You might be initially wrong, but being willing to change your stance based on additional evidence is not a sign of weakness despite what internet culture would tell you.
And if someone waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and otherwise displays all the typical hallmarks of waterfowl, it’s probably not rabbit season.
If you don’t want me to respond to you, why are you @’ing me? I don’t see any way I can respond to your posting directly to me without you taking it as me targeting you after you asked me to disengage. That’s really unfair. As soon as you told me you didn’t want to discuss it further I dropped it and apologized. Now you’re continuing to @ me but I can’t respond back.
@ Viscaria
Calculated? Hardly. I couldn’t possibly care less about trying to hurt some anonymous rando’s feelings about their art. I just find the pretentious and self-serving gassing on about their “art” to be rather insufferable, especially in light of the extremely dubious scene they describe in which they suddenly remove articles of clothing and strike a pose. It sounds manufactured as hell, regardless of other’s credulity.
@Kupo
Damn, K, I normally really like and appreciate your perspective on things, but you couldn’t have missed BTD’s point any more if you had your eyes closed.
@Wandering Jewterus, could you dial back on the personal attacks (like, dial back to zero).
@ David
I hope you’ll accept my apologies. Given past examples of the commentariat here going full bore on troll-y participants, I didn’t think that my comments were crossing the line, but point taken. I’ll bow out of the discussion. I’m sorry you had to step in regarding my commentary.
going “full-bore” on “trolly participents” has hurt some genuine people. when there is doubt maybe do not go “full bore”?
@Valentin
You’re not wrong and I definitely agree with you; however, I didn’t mean to suggest I was going full bore. I was drawing a contrast between my commentary in this case and the responses I’ve observed (and participated in) in the past when an obvious troll has tried to stir shit up.
Frankly, I don’t think anything I said wasn’t according to Hoyle, but David disagreed and it’s his site, so regardless of my opinion on the matter, I’ll abide by his directive. I was more pointing out that the standard for personal attacks can be somewhat selective. I’ve seen this place turn into Piranha River and absolutely dismantle some truly pathetic trolls, so I didn’t think my rather tepid comments were out of bounds. I’ll try to ensure I don’t make the same mistake again.
It’s very possible that my IFF is desperately in need of recalibration and I recognize that. I was raised to be extremely distrustful of most people (and especially if they seem too friendly) and experiences in my life have not disabused me of that extreme degree of caution. It’s very possible that Stacey isn’t a troll and I am just being paranoid (although given the reservations of BTD and Crys, I think we can rule out paranoia), but everything I saw screamed TROLL! to me. Honestly, I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t help but be skeptical. It’s just how I’m wired.
I was slut-shamed when I was younger. I didn’t know that’s what it was called then but I was told I was weird because I liked to look at how my body looked in dance clothes and didn’t want to take off dance clothes after class or put anything else on over them to go home.
I know I’m impulsive sometimes but my favorite professor in college who I loved so much told me that as long as I could recognize what was safe for myself and others that maybe that same thing could be part of a creative spirit. Yes I do relate to performance artists and I guess like with some of our clients who really like me and ask my boss when I’ll be there for them I am like a performance artist. I love my receptionist and hostess job and there is a big part of me that likes to please people so it’s hard sometimes to stand up for myself but I do.
So if you think I’m a troll or don’t like me for whatever other reason then I guess that will just have to be ok. Maybe think about though that if how somebody stands or poses or moves can’t be art itself than how can there be things at all like dance, modeling, sculpture and theater in the first place?
If David tells me to be quiet then ok I can just read his posts and read all your comments or whatever. I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone and what I wrote about at first is part of my life but maybe that wasn’t the right place so if so sorry. And I do and feel some things still that I feel guilty about but I try to be kind and fun and am still proud of my body and my art and my style.
@Viscaria
Yes, shape and movement and clothes that show that are so fun and I love it.
@AlanRobertshaw
What you said about imagining me carrying around my own plinth was so fun. I kind of want to sometimes!
You were talking about athletic photos…you should totally get a professional photographer to pose you for those! Plus it’s good to support women professional photographers because it’s really hard for them in some cities.
Gonna chime in that when I first saw Stacey’s wall of text, I was instantly bracing for another Abortion Thread-style fiasco.
(That poster was not a troll, only a person who was unwilling to seriously interrogate her problematic beliefs, but I digress).
No paragraph breaks, detailed descriptions of eye-catching costumes, Women’s Studies, and a man sour about being “friendzoned”? ?
Potential Unfriendly Identified. Begin Threat Assessment.
Content
I read through the entire comment again, looking for any problematic statements (not really), any potential “gotchas” (nope).
And I Googled what a “bevel” was.
Bona Fides
Then I Googled Stacey’s ‘nym to see if she has posted on this blog before (yes), whether she has been consistent in her talk about her costumes being art (yes), as well as having a penchant for describing her costumes in detail (check).
So, content is more or less clean, bona fides are established, now for the response.
Begin Response Evaluation.
Response Type
In the spirit of generosity, I choose to respond positively.
If Stacey was really a deep-cover troll, what would be the repercussions of responding?
In-Theater Effects Assessment
Uh, I guess WWTH or one of the other commenters would artfully dispatch them – okay, I can live with that.
(Conversely, if I was on Reddit, these types of posts would be seen as looking for easy validation (on r/AmITheAsshole, for instance), or for eliciting sympathy and karma, and any positive responses would be mocked there as being too credulous, so the appropriate response would be much different.
…
I’m starting to think that Reddit isn’t such a nice place.)
Out-of-Theatre Effects Assessment
Maybe I’ll show up in the screenshot that gets posted to Braincels or whatever as a trophy for owing a thirsty soyboy libtard white knight cuck – I care even less about this.
Self-Effects Assessment
Perhaps I’ll be embarrassed at being had by a troll? Well, then that would depend on the amount of skin I want to show in my response, wouldn’t it? Can’t be embarrassed if I keep it factual.
Okay, response evaluation is done, I am Cleared To Respond. Stick to factual.
So, Stacey said that she wanted to “vent”. What about? Well, her friend’s reacting to her decision to strike a pose in a coffee shop with a sexual comment. Okay, let’s stick to that.
What is my own reaction from this, based on my own beliefs? Friends should be understanding and supportive, and not make things entirely about themselves or their comfort. Okay, let’s respond with that.
Did I agree with everything in the comment? Not really. What would I have responded like, if I were in that situation (and not sour at being friendzoned)? Confusion, perhaps, or consternation that my conversation was curtailed. Let’s add that too.
Response selected and executed.
(No offense meant to Stacey; you sound like a really nice person. I just wanted to see how my thought processes would be described if it really was a military plane’s IFF going off.)
@Stacey
One question, though: Why does your Gravatar icon keep changing? Are you switching between different email addresses?
@Arbilester
I felt more comfortable using a different email address than the one I first used here.
@Ariblester
I apologize for getting your nym wrong!
No problem, it happens more often than you’d think.
@ stacey
I do have a particular friend in mind. It’s funny, because I was thinking of her when you raised your point about the schism between feminism and expressing your art through your body.
She’s a hard-core “capital F” feminist; but she used to model. Then, like the song says “They only want you when you’re 17; when you’re 21 you’re no fun..” so now she’s a photographer for some of the high end fashion mags.. But that involves a lot of ‘re-touching’. It’s quite a dilemma for her.
She is a blooming good photographer though; unfortunately she’s in Paris. Ah well, I suppose I could alway use an opportunity to eat an overpriced baguette.