Second, nobody likes to hear this but you just gotta ignore the trolls. There always have been trolls and always will be. Stop feeding them.
I have seen this statement typed many times since the early 00's. I can imagine similar words being posted before that time. Since then, I have seen things get worse. With so many social networks that are built to connect people easily or automatically, the trolls feed themselves and there are so few nuanced tools to help ignore them. As connecting to others over the internet becomes ever easier and automatic, I become more convinced that "Don't feed the trolls," is not a viable tactic.
Thank you for linking those two articles. They have given me many things to think about.
There is a bit of telephone going on with my recounting of these events, which is why I urge folks to watch internetaristocrat's videos, and maybe do their own research when they aren't a bit sleep addled during the day.
Disclosure (fitting given some of #gamergate's grievances): I have not fully watched all of that person's videos which I will explain why soon. So, just a heads up that I'm going to disappoint you and I apologize in advance.
No matter what valid accusations the person has regarding the events around an ex-boyfriend, I find it hard to muster trust when he makes allegations or implied allegations of Zoe Quinn having an affair with the wedded Patrick Klepek just because Quinn and Klepek had a PAX East 2014 panel. Or that Zoe Quinn intentionally sabotaged a high profile game jam to draw attention to her own game jam. There is a discussion of character in this mess, so I will admit that I myopically question the character and subsequently the arguments of a person who is comfortable making such allegations or implications in a series of events that I look down on as trivial, worthless gossip.
(In his second[?] video, Internet Aristocrat uses Max Temkin's alleged rape accusation as an example. I thought that was trivial and worthless gossip as well. I can not explain or excuse the articles and blog posts that came from that.)
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As this event has gone on for the past three weeks (!), where I end up in my feelings for this is tired and depressed. From the first shot fired by a jilted ex-boyfriend, it has been a ceaseless barrage of back and forth barbs between all sorts of people that has me bewildered and ducking. In a sense, this is the latest release of the contempt built between multiple sorts of video game enthusiasts, multiple sorts of video game journalists and critics, multiple sorts of video game developers, and probably a few political opportunists.
What I find most absurd is the relative size of this incident. Video game journalism is not limited to Kotaku, Polygon, or Gamasutra. I assume there's plenty of space and web sites for people to have their own fuzzy bubble to be in. But I guess that doesn't happen when the attraction of outrage or perceived slights is too great and too easy to come across. When some users here have remarked that this the first they have heard of this incident, I realize that I spend too much time on Twitter.
As for what happens next or solutions, I will try harder to be kind, considerate, patient, and critical. I will try and fail (arguably, I have failed in my above writing) and try again.
Or maybe I'll just distract myself with free-to-play games on my shiny smartphone or something.