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Brad Glasgow over at GamePolitics.com did something unique when setting out to cover the gamergate movement, he asked people taking part in it questions rather than only their detractors.
I decided to run an experiment and see first-hand the difficulties one might encounter when covering an online movement. Rather than wait for GamerGate to come to us, I went to them. I joined their very popular Kotaku in Action (KiA) subreddit and interviewed several hundred GamerGate supporters from Tuesday, July 28 through Tuesday, August 4. It is my hope that what I learned will assist journalists with covering GamerGate and any similar movements in the future.
The Experiment
I asked one question on the KiA subreddit every 12 hours. The question was stickied (placed at the top in the most recognizable area) until I posted a new question. The new question was then stickied and they were given an additional 12 hours to submit replies to the old question and vote on their favorite answer. After I asked 7 questions I then asked 7 follow up questions on the final day.
The article was interesting enough but what I found hilarious was when he then tried to do a similar interview with the anti-gamergate types over at Gamer Ghazi, he was quickly banned.
I did experience some hostility from the anti-GamerGate side for covering GamerGate. While I was treated well by the people of GamerGhazi when I tried to speak with them, I was quickly banned by moderators, who said I have spent too much time posting on the GamerGate subreddit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2015, @04:38PM
Ah, "setting back progress" arguments! Pretty good indicator of where you lie on the issue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2015, @05:58PM
Are you saying he's a concern troll?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday August 13 2015, @11:09PM
Wantkitteh does have a valid point here. What should be a few separate issues that could be more cogently discussed individually seem to have been rolled up into a huge ball of wax. The huge ball of wax makes it easy for the main stream media to boil it down to: “men who play video games are sexually frustrated misogynist criminals.”
This plays nicely into the larger narrative that men are somehow preventing women from entering tech careers because they're horrible, sexually frustrated misogynists.
Why always sexually frustrated? What if the man is homosexual? I digress.
On the other hand, some men become a bit more cagey around strange women because, thanks to the efforts of the Ada Initiative, we now seem to have Schrödinger's Victim running around. It's devolved to the point where an accusation of sexism is a conviction with no appeal. Better not tell jokes, and only speak when spoken to, because who knows if that woman is Schrödinger's Victim, especially if you've never had a girlfriend!
In the back of my mind, I do worry a bit about what's on the horizon and where this is leading, but the longer this goes on, the more difficulty I'm having trying to understand it all.
All these narratives do is put up barriers and put men on the defensive. I suppose ostensibly that may ultimately hurt women as well. I could easily see a young man in college who has already developed extensive programming skills deciding it's best to keep away from the one or two brave women in his class, fearing that they're there to accuse somebody of misogyny at the slightest misunderstanding. Maybe that woman who needs a little help was forbidden by her parents from learning programming (rare, but it happens, and not just in Amish communities either).
If he's accused of sexism, the conviction is instant and final, and he becomes a pariah. Better to actually be sexist and only interact with women when it's absolutely necessary.
Look over there! She's getting an error message she can't figure out. I've already completed the assignment and there's still 15 minutes of lab time left. Should I head over there and help her out? What if she thinks I'm Schrödinger's rapist and trying to set her up for date rape? What if I make some other faux pas or microaggression and get suspended for sexual harassment? Better not bother.
(Disclaimer: Yes, I know presuming the woman will have the error and require the assistance of a man is basically sexist, but it's how it often plays out. It is a bit contrived as well, but I remember having similar thoughts after sitting through a date rape presentation. Otoh that was probably just culture shock in general after entering the man's world again.)
Maybe somebody should write a companion guide to Schrödinger's Rapist [wikia.com] intended to help women understand how to enter tech careers without being Schrödinger's Victim.
This is indeed backwards progress. Men should be able to speak with their female colleagues without fear of a perceived microaggression turning them into a pariah. If sexism is an accusation with no defense when leveled at a man, and if we privilege women with being incapable of sexism, how can there be equality?