Since when was GamerGate a group, not a scandal?

[Nieroshai]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

 

[Internet Zen Master]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

 

[Nieroshai]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

What does the hashtag represent then? I'm probably gonna get flak for this, but I have handily avoided twitter since its inception and when hashtags are brought up I generally have no clue what the reference is.

 

[Slayer4472]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

What does the hashtag represent then? I'm probably gonna get flak for this, but I have handily avoided twitter since its inception and when hashtags are brought up I generally have no clue what the reference is.

The hashtag represents a desire for journalistic ethics. Quoting from the venerable Agayek:

GamerGate desires straightforward, honest coverage of the industry, such that anyone can read these outlets with the basic expectation that they are being told the truth. In an ideal world, every gaming outlet would adopt the New York Times' Standards and Ethics policies, but that is an unrealistic goal in the world of internet media. As such, we must be content with ethical policies that fit within the limitations. The Escapist, a gaming media site of some repute, has already adopted such a set of standards.

 

[Ninjamedic]

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

Okay, answer given people! Topic change time!

Anyone else remember the Red Skull arc in the 90's cartoon?

 

[Nieroshai]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

What does the hashtag represent then? I'm probably gonna get flak for this, but I have handily avoided twitter since its inception and when hashtags are brought up I generally have no clue what the reference is.

The hashtag represents a desire for journalistic ethics. Quoting from the venerable Agayek:

GamerGate desires straightforward, honest coverage of the industry, such that anyone can read these outlets with the basic expectation that they are being told the truth. In an ideal world, every gaming outlet would adopt the New York Times' Standards and Ethics policies, but that is an unrealistic goal in the world of internet media. As such, we must be content with ethical policies that fit within the limitations. The Escapist, a gaming media site of some repute, has already adopted such a set of standards.

So... being PRO-#GamerGate means you at least claim to support games journalism ethics? I don't know why that wasn't clear by context, or why that basically seemed to mean the opposite in the way some people have been using it. Am I still missing something?

EDIT: like the #gamergate hashtag getting lumped in with SJWs, bbeing treated like yet another entitlement group, etc

 

[Slayer4472]

I keep getting lost in threads about the whole situation at large, but I remember GamerGate being the journalism scandal. Since when did GamerGate become an actual group for people to be part of, to be pro- and anti-? Someone please educate me on what, if anything, GamerGate actually is at exactly this moment. There is a thread about GG right now, but being about 777 pages long, I can't be expected to lurk it for answers let alone endure the flame war that no doubt took up the first dozen or so pages. I just want news, I feel out of the loop. I feel like I dozed off for like a minute in a boring meeting and suddenly we're discussing war. So what does it mean, really?

It's not a group so much as a collection of individuals supporting the general idea behind the #GamerGate hashtag. Call it a consumer revolt of sorts. Which is why I find Gawker Media's hard-on for getting everyone who supports GamerGate labeled as a hate group hilarious, since frankly you'd have better luck getting Anonymous formally classified as a hate group.

(it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm a little too livid about the disgusting harassment of James Desborough to really stop and explain it properly right now).

What does the hashtag represent then? I'm probably gonna get flak for this, but I have handily avoided twitter since its inception and when hashtags are brought up I generally have no clue what the reference is.

The hashtag represents a desire for journalistic ethics. Quoting from the venerable Agayek:

GamerGate desires straightforward, honest coverage of the industry, such that anyone can read these outlets with the basic expectation that they are being told the truth. In an ideal world, every gaming outlet would adopt the New York Times' Standards and Ethics policies, but that is an unrealistic goal in the world of internet media. As such, we must be content with ethical policies that fit within the limitations. The Escapist, a gaming media site of some repute, has already adopted such a set of standards.

So... being PRO-#GamerGate means you at least claim to support games journalism ethics? I don't know why that wasn't clear by context, or why that basically seemed to mean the opposite in the way some people have been using it. Am I still missing something?

EDIT: like the #gamergate hashtag getting lumped in with SJWs, bbeing treated like yet another entitlement group, etc

I hope I'm answering your actual question- please feel free to whack me if I'm wrong.

The reason GamerGate is being so vociferously opposed is that the websites we've been decrying as unethical created a number of articles smearing us as rape apologists/misogynists/conservative extremists/terrorists, etc. Here's an example:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/13/gamergate-right-wing-no-neutral-stance

The Guardian is not actually one of the websites that we're upset with, but this particular article is notable for its enthusiastic language. Many of the opponents of GamerGate have been misled by these articles and believe that GG is a sexist hate group. Here's an example:

http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/2jdlgf/i_recently_converted_to_progg_from_antigg_and_i/

 

[Slayer4472]

The reason GamerGate is being so vociferously opposed is that the websites we've been decrying as unethical created a number of articles smearing us as rape apologists/misogynists/conservative extremists/terrorists, etc. Here's an example:

That might be partially true but remember this is one of the major centers of gamergate as it was one of the handful of places allowing its discussion in the early days. So a lot of people here don't like it because of direct contact with people involved in it. We've been here too for the same conversations and revelations and came to different conclusions based on the facts as we see them. Maybe GG needs to stop acting like they have the monopoly on truth and that anyone who disagrees must be a liar or have been lied to because it doesn't make them look any better.

There are many reasonable people who oppose GamerGate ('ello, Miracle of Sound).

With that point, I was specifically speaking about the group who've decided that we're "The Tech World's ISIS" or "Gaming's KKK"; the unreasonable people that everyone is embarrassed by.

 

[IceForce]

So... being PRO-#GamerGate means you at least claim to support games journalism ethics? I don't know why that wasn't clear by context, or why that basically seemed to mean the opposite in the way some people have been using it. Am I still missing something?

What you're missing is that the hashtag comes with baggage, a LOT of baggage.

Too many people are using it as a soapbox for anti-feminist, even anti-women, rhetoric; or are using it to campaign to silence reviews and articles that they personally disagree with (which is the epitome of hypocrisy, given that GamerGate is supposedly against "censorship").