So about that Total Biscuit article....
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Sometimes I feel like the most notable development that came out of the internet is revealing just how many sad and plain nasty idiots there are. And sadly, it doesn't matter in which direction you look.
It's the most notable thing to come out of the internet in a social studies way at least. To this day I still don't understand why so many people let out their inner asshole/***** on the internet. But all those people already being assholes/bitches but hiding it in real life for various reasons certainly makes sense to me.Chimpzy said:
As for the article. I still think it's amazing how much of a leap in reasoning the far left (or in this case anita supporters) can make at times. They constantly scream about how the "right-wingers" and "GG-ers" are such horrible people for harassing them online, yet they somehow justify doing the exact same thing and then claim they're the good people.
For the most part, I think these people are assholes in real life too. The difference is that in real life 10,000 assholes are spread across seven continents, so they aren't seen or heard as much because they are far between and people can easily avoid them for the most part (especially if said asshole spends most of their free time in front of their computer). On the internet they congregate and find like-minded individuals and when 10,000 assholes decide to express their anger with anyone by going after their Twitter or Facebook, they suddenly get a whole other weight. Just like snow flakes, one of them is harmless but ten thousand filling up your feed becomes a proper avalanche.sanquin said:
Because it's totally not the same thing, you see.sanquin said:
If some hypothetical vlogger Anita might or might not have gone out of her way to insult for quietly sitting in a chair in a threatening way made a video harrassing (which is, of course, common parlance for "criticizing" these days) her, why, he would not only be entirely responsible for any mean comments any idiot watching it might throw her way, it would also be entirely reasonable to assume he was doing it on purpose to encourage said behavior.
But if she was to criticize some perfectly harmless article on Twitter, and that was to precipitate more or less the same result towards its writer? Not only would she be as free of any moral blemish as the driven snow, said writer would probably deserve it. Because the people doing it would be the Good and the Righteous over at the Right Side of History.
What, are you seriously going to advocate for a single standard or some other such non-progressive notion, you horrible person, you?
Blame for this situation first and foremost has to go to the people who dogpiled Laura for posting what I thought was a well-written and surely worthwhile piece. It wasn't like this was just made to promote Totalbiscuit, it was part of a series on the subject of Twitch harassment. I legitimately believe her when she said she had no idea it coincided with the anniversary of GamerGate. That's because she's a successful journalist who spent those last three years making a name for herself with good content, rather than continuing to obsess over an event most people would prefer to forget about. Especially now when there are much bigger things to fight for.
That said, I think it was poor form for TB to carry on the way he did after Rich Stanton posted the apology article. The thing about editorial apologies is they're basically meaningless; Stanton was just covering his arse and TB should've known better. Instead he escalated the situation which caused more distress to Laura, who has made her history with depression and suicide very well known. I think the whole act of trying to personally and professionally distance himself from her is sucky for a number of reasons. A) because I enjoy it when they collaborate on stuff like Co-Optional and would hate to see that go away, B) it's a blatant attempt at martydom and C) it lets the idiots win.
I hate the lines that get drawn around GG. While the issues that situation brought up about the way women in tech are treated, harassment in the games industry and whatnot are serious issues, a lot of the rhetoric around it was an excuse for people to divide each other into factions. Take this hilarious article by our former movie reviewer: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/columns/moviebob/12173-Comparing-Film-Journalism-and-Games-Journalism. It's laughable even before you realise one of the main "heroes" of the piece would later be outed as a molester, but the language used to describe the situation are what really grinds my gears. He compares the whole situation to some kind of righteous battle ("in an internet 'brawl' Faraci is the sort you'd want on your side" oh my days), when all he's really describing when you get down to it is a fucking Twitter argument. People dole out their hot takes intended to demonise the other side, nobody tries to communicate and anyone who violates the "groupthink" is permanently shunned. That's what sent TB over to the GG side in the first place, and it's what happened to Laura now, three years later.
This turned into an off-topic rant and I haven't even mentioned how much I hate the way FemFreq and others used the term "marginalised" when trying to get people to back off. Implying that Laura being a vulnerable transwoman is the only reason they cared to undo the damage, further implying they care more about looking good for their followers than looking out for the victimised. But yeah, that's enough of that. It was a good article, the journalist was right to post it. The editor was right to take responsibility for what happened and TotalBiscuit shouldn't be making things worse just because of some petty grudge against him. The whole reason this happened is because unlike the Moviebobs and the FemFrequencies, Laura moved on from the GG thing (enough that she doesn't care to mark it's fucking anniversary). TB would be wise to do that as well.
That said, I think it was poor form for TB to carry on the way he did after Rich Stanton posted the apology article. The thing about editorial apologies is they're basically meaningless; Stanton was just covering his arse and TB should've known better. Instead he escalated the situation which caused more distress to Laura, who has made her history with depression and suicide very well known. I think the whole act of trying to personally and professionally distance himself from her is sucky for a number of reasons. A) because I enjoy it when they collaborate on stuff like Co-Optional and would hate to see that go away, B) it's a blatant attempt at martydom and C) it lets the idiots win.
I hate the lines that get drawn around GG. While the issues that situation brought up about the way women in tech are treated, harassment in the games industry and whatnot are serious issues, a lot of the rhetoric around it was an excuse for people to divide each other into factions. Take this hilarious article by our former movie reviewer: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/columns/moviebob/12173-Comparing-Film-Journalism-and-Games-Journalism. It's laughable even before you realise one of the main "heroes" of the piece would later be outed as a molester, but the language used to describe the situation are what really grinds my gears. He compares the whole situation to some kind of righteous battle ("in an internet 'brawl' Faraci is the sort you'd want on your side" oh my days), when all he's really describing when you get down to it is a fucking Twitter argument. People dole out their hot takes intended to demonise the other side, nobody tries to communicate and anyone who violates the "groupthink" is permanently shunned. That's what sent TB over to the GG side in the first place, and it's what happened to Laura now, three years later.
This turned into an off-topic rant and I haven't even mentioned how much I hate the way FemFreq and others used the term "marginalised" when trying to get people to back off. Implying that Laura being a vulnerable transwoman is the only reason they cared to undo the damage, further implying they care more about looking good for their followers than looking out for the victimised. But yeah, that's enough of that. It was a good article, the journalist was right to post it. The editor was right to take responsibility for what happened and TotalBiscuit shouldn't be making things worse just because of some petty grudge against him. The whole reason this happened is because unlike the Moviebobs and the FemFrequencies, Laura moved on from the GG thing (enough that she doesn't care to mark it's fucking anniversary). TB would be wise to do that as well.
I guess it's nice to know that whatever happens I can always count on some gamers acting like rancid turds on the internet.
I'm confused though. I mean, how is that article remotely controversial? It just TB talking about moderation tools. It's quite boring actually. I imagine it could be useful if I was a streamer or whatever.
And what the fuck is up with the victim-blaming?
I'm confused though. I mean, how is that article remotely controversial? It just TB talking about moderation tools. It's quite boring actually. I imagine it could be useful if I was a streamer or whatever.
And what the fuck is up with the victim-blaming?
Someone had the audacity to be a trans woman on the internet.Zhukov said:
That pretty much explains it all, unfortunately.
Based on what I've seen on Youtube, I'm willing to bet it had nothing to do with the article. They just saw TB or Laura, started seeing red, noticed that they were in a place where comments could be posted, and then went "THE GATES HAVE BEEN OPENED! STRIKE MY BRETHREN!"Adam Jensen said:
I don't know much about Laura, but since most of TB's videos have comments disabled, his haters tend to strike hard and fast whenever they see the opportunity to leave a comment, like when he comments on other videos. I've even seen comments like "Too bad you can't moderate this comment away you POS!"
My take on it is, I'm not surprised that this happened, but I'm still sorry that it happened. This is definitely a bravery vs. foolhardiness scenario. It's clear that she couldn't handle the backlash, but does that confirm that she wasn't expecting it? If anything, going in, knowing this might happen to her when she knows that she can't handle it sounds like martyrdom.inu-kun said:
Of course I'm still making assumptions by assuming she suspected this would happen. Maybe I should actually read the article before I say any more.
This is probably the most likely situation. They only needed a crumb of something to pounce upon it like a pack of rabid dogs. What really gets me about the article is the group of people that are fans of the FemFreq thing all preach equality and fair treatment of women and yada yada, yet they often prove to be the first to attack anyone and anything they can. It's like they are a religious extremist group more than a feminist outfit.sageoftruth said:
Also here is a theory about why so many people seem to be more asshole-ish on the internet. It's because the internet allows people to express their views without fear of getting punched in the face. Seriously the worst thing that can happen to 99% of shitposters and dicks on the net is a ban from a current forum or website, which is usually easy to get around if you really wanted to.
That freedom allows people to talk without needing any kind of PC-filter. This goes for everyone no matter what your views are.
And it happens on both sides. Look how much I got called a "victim blamer" regardless of what your views on the situation are people are quick to ignore the question I have repeated here and in other thread of, "How is no one held somewhat responsible for their actions?" and instead of saying "here's why" or whatever, people just label it victim blaming and offer no other recourse.
People have an attitude these days that the moment you question someone's beliefs or feelings, you immediately are accused of being insulting and then labeled which ironically is insulting the very person you said is insulting you. Why are questions insulting? Are people's feelings and beliefs so shallow that they can't defend them without resorting to some sort of bashing?
Clearly people think I'm victim blaming. Why? In what reality should someone be able to do something, talk about something and expect no response? If you really thought that a thread about harassment was going to have everyone suddenly hold hands around the Christmas tree and sing "Joy to the World" like its the fucking Grinch Who Stole Christmas if shows how incredible naive you must really be. If that was the response there wouldn't even have needed to be a thread about harassment in the first place. Obviously that kind of topic was going to get a fairly aggressive response. And if you couldn't see that or expect it, then lesson learnt right? Now next time she writes an article like this, if there ever is a next time, then hopefully she'll have some knowledge of the kind of response she'll face.
That doesn't mean I say the response is okay, because it's not. There is simply a reality to how the internet works, and it isn't going to change anytime soon if ever.
Maybe Google needs to invent an AI that polices what people say online. "I'm sorry you are using the word fuck too much and you have been locked out of the internet for 72 hours."
).
Pffff! Please... She has gotten harassment just for reporting on PS4 Slim. Are you going to tell me that's the equivalent of voicing an opinion different than the ruling party?inu-kun said:
EDIT: I also find despicable to see fucking harassers as the ruling party of the gaming industry.
Totalitarian ideology...yeah...still looking forward to the day the internet learns perspective.inu-kun said: