Trolls
I think that as long as people can hide behind a computer screen, internet trolls will exist. An internet troll is basically someone who goes by a pseudonym posting comments that are offensive and telling people they should be dead. These trolls get some kind of high off it I believe, like it makes them feel good about themselves when they put other people down.
A big scandal in the gaming industry has been Gamergate. I don’t personally know a lot about it but in Caitlin Dewey’s article she says that it all started from Zoe Quinn’s game Depression Quest, which tells the story of a young adult’s depression. Then people started to get into that it was more artsy than gamey and one of Quinn’s ex-boyfriends came out and said that Quinn had cheated on him with men in the gaming industry to “get ahead in her career” which was why this game was getting so much attention from critics. But now, from what Caitlin is saying in this article, it seems to be targeting women, and not giving them a voice in the gaming industry. And these trolls went so far to threaten these women with their addresses and times that they would attack, which is a “criminally punishable act” as she says.
It seems as though another troll who actually is in front of the camera is a youtuber that goes by the name “Pewdiepie.” This guy was playing the game Firewatch and was streaming it live, when he called someone the n-word before killing him in this online shooter. And this isn’t the first time this Pewdiepie has been in the spotlight recently. In Patricia Hernandez’s article, she says that he, “has made jokes about Jewish people, ironically embracing nazi references, and tussles with mainstream media and has said the n-word on his channel before.” So, he has a history of trying to put other groups of people down. But in the most recent case of calling this person a f’ing n-word on a live stream, for someone that receives so many viewers he has to be more aware of what he is saying. Maybe he can’t help it because he is racist, I don’t know but if that’s the case this guy should not be making money streaming and playing these games if that is how it is going to be.
Like I said before, I think trolls will always exist and if someone wants to do something bad enough they will find ways around it if they eventually figure out ways to call out pseudonyms. And even if people aren’t hiding behind their screen and are in front of it like Pewdiepie, they will continue to make money unless we as a community do something to put an end to it.
