Blog Post # 9
In today’s blog post we will be discussing all things Gamergate, gaming harassment, and PewDiePie. First, we will begin by exploring an article published in the Washington Post by Caitlin Dewey titled “The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read”.
Before diving into the article some of you are probably wondering “what is Gamergate?” to give you some background, Gamergate is an online movement ostensibly concerned with ethics in game journalism and with protecting the “gamer” identity.(para 2)
Caitlin reveals that gamergate all started when a designer named Zoe Quinn released a game called Depression Quest an interactive fiction game where you play as someone living with depression. You are given a series of everyday life events and have to attempt to manage your illness, relationships, job, and possible treatment. This game aims to show other sufferers of depression that they are not alone (Depressionquest.com)
As someone who has personally suffered from depression one thing, thats just as bad as the anxiety is the feeling of being alone. I feel like this game is an unsung hero among pc games. I also find it quite astounding how something as controversial as gamergate start from what I would essentially call a self-help game.
In an article published by Mashable and written by Adam Rosenburg titled One of the internet’s oldest gaming forums is imploding over sexual harassment charges. Adam starts out by telling us about Tyler Malka, owner of NEOGAF, formerly known as the Gaming-Age Forums, is an internet forum that discusses video games, founded as an adjunct to Gaming-Age, a video game news website.
Tyler Malka was publicly accused of sexual harassment. In the hours and days that followed, a number of the gaming forum’s moderators publicly stepped down and a growing number of users.(para 3)
This made curious, not that sexual harassment makes me curious but that fact that in the corporate world the higher you get up the ladder the more likely you are to be involved in a sexual harassment scandal. I wonder why this is, for someone who has a high profile. you would think they would make better decisions.
Next, we will be taking a look at an article published by Kotaku and written by Patricia Hernandez that looks into a recent scandal regarding a famous YouTuber who goes by the name PewDiePie.
Swedish web-based comedian and video producer. He is known for his Let’s Play commentaries and vlogs, as well as his massive following on youtube.
The covers a recent incident where pewdiepie uses the N-word while streaming live for an audience of tens of thousands of people. This naturally sparked a ton of controversy on the web. His defense was that he is not racist.(para 1)
So does “not being racist” give people the right to use this type of language? No, I don’t think so. I find it surprising how someone so toxic can acquire the biggest following on youtube.
I looked at the demographic for his audience and they are all young adolescents. The language in his streams and his demeanor isn’t something that should be followed by young people.
