GamerGate is growing from a battle inside gaming to a larger culture war.
In case you're one of the millions who don't know what this term means — first of all, don't feel bad, because it's a complex movement with shifting goals. But here's a quick primer.
GamerGate kicked off when an independent game developer's ex-boyfriend wrote a 9,000-word screed about their relationship, accusing her of trading sex for favorable press coverage and other career boosts. This was false. But the rage around it coalesced into a hashtag, created by actor and conservative commentator Adam Baldwin. That hashtag attracted a brigade who felt — they said — that the media was using its power to promote progressive agendas in video games coverage.
Here's the problem, though. Critics who speak out against the movement, especially if they are female, have a lot to worry about. On Wednesday, actress, geek icon and passionate gamer Felicia Day wrote on her own personal blog to say the movement was hurting the gaming community. She also said she'd been afraid to speak out before because of her own safety, not wanting her personal details leaked online. An hour later, Day was "doxxed" — Internet slang for publishing personal information such as an address or phone number — in her own comments.
"I have allowed a handful of anonymous people to censor me," Day wrote. "They have forced me, out of fear, into seeing myself a potential victim."
This kind of interaction shows why GamerGate, in its current form, is facing insurmountable obstacles. A movement composed of online bullies cannot be accepted as a legitimate voice at the table. If its moderate members are so passionate about reform, they will have to find another banner to march under. Here's why.
1. An anonymous, headless mob isn't good at pushing an agenda.
GamerGate suffers from a mob mentality. Members crowd on message boards such as 8chanand the subreddit KotakuInAction, both places where individuals can become anonymous. Many use Twitter accounts not associated with a real identity.
That means the left hand rarely knows what the right hand is doing, not to mention what the feet, elbows and knees are up to.
It's easy for the movement to get upset at suggestions that it is responsible for stopping feminist game critic Anita Sarkeesian's talk last week, after Utah State University received a threat against her life and the lives of the audience. GamerGate members point out that there was nothing to connect that threat to the movement — as if anyone would sign a letter promising "the most deadly school shooting in American history" with a hashtag.
The media can easily paint a picture of GamerGate based on violent actions it inspired, because most of its members have no real public persona. Its opponents can easily turn the hashtag into a negative epithet:
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