Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, the largest Canadian-owned pop culture convention, boasts an attendance of over 97,000 as of 2014. And as of yesterday afternoon, they have also been at the center of a harrassment-based media vortex following social media reports that a paying exhibitor was selling #GamerGate merchandise featuring the hashtag and the hate movement’s…
Adobe Withdraws Accidental Support of #GamerGate
Last week — JFC, was it only last week?! — Adobe accidentally endorsed GamerGate. Or at least, they appeared to be endorsing GamerGate, thanks to a misunderstanding on the part of Adobe’s social media team and some pretty impressive spin from GamerGaters. Back when GamerGate was trying to salt and burn the Gawker network over claims that…
Shocking Twist: Data Show #GamerGate Is About Harassing Women
According to objective data, #GamerGate is not about journalistic ethics. Colour me surprised Newsweek had Brandwatch analyze 25% of tweets to the GamerGate hashtag. The social media analytics firm looked at 500,000 tweets, going back to the inception of the hashtag. They found that the vast majority of tweets were directed to female developers and game critics, not journalists: GamerGaters…
Felicia Day is Disappointed In You, #GamerGate, And You Proved Her Right
Last night, Felicia Day — creator of The Guild and all around awesome person — posted a gentle I’m Not Mad, I’m Just Disappointed to members of #GamerGate. Her post is thoughtful, sympathetic, and focused not on the hideous bile spewing from every orifice of the #GamerGate monster, but on the disappointment she felt in herself…
Recommended Reading: Gamergate
It’s hard to believe that GamerGate is still going strong, even as media coverage of the so-called consumer rights movement becomes increasingly damning and gaming sites and trade groups move to distance themselves from it. You can find all of our previous GamerGate coverage here, including background information for those lucky few who have remained…
Baldwin-faced Misogynist: Please Don’t Publish Mr. Gamergate’s Book, Dark Horse
I don’t know if you know this about us, but neither Megan nor I have any time for Firefly. How many times have I bent her ear about the truly absurd & terrible poster for Serenity? So many times! So you’d think I’d be all pleased about an opportunity to spread my seeds of hate….
You Wanted a Movement? #StopGamerGate2014
Yesterday afternoon, Utah State University was sent anonymous threats of violence. “Feminists have ruined my life,” the man claimed. He would shoot up the university, targeting women, especially feminists, if Anita Sarkeesian was allowed to give a planned talk on sexism in video games. The talk was cancelled. To be clear: I didn't cancel my USU…
This Is Not A Drill–Gamergate Supporter Threatens School Shooting
On the morning of Tuesday, October 14th, Utah State University received an anonymous threat from someone claiming to be a student, who promised to engage in terrorist action if feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian spoke at a scheduled event on Wednesday, October 15th. Sarkeesian, and many other vocal feminist creators, have been targeted by the Gamergate…
Products Over People: What GamerGate Gets Wrong
When I was ten and my brother twelve, we got Sunday morning paper routes. He used his money to buy gaming consoles; I used mine to buy comics. He stayed up late most nights gaming, and most mornings he’d be dead to the world in compensation. I was stuck delivering his share of the papers so often (thanks, bud!)…
GamerGate Rolls On — Does It Affect Your Personal Behaviour?
How it all started: Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian released her latest installment of Tropes vs Women in Video Games and was promptly deluged with threats of rape and violence. She had to leave her home and contact with the police. Zoe Quinn, developer of the game Depression Quest, had nude photos and personal information released…
(Before GamerGate Was Called GamerGate) My Ex Broke My Heart (and Also She’s a Vampire So Let’s Form a Mob)
Okay! Personal vs Institutional. The difference between hurting someone personally, and hurting them institutionally. This is an important aspect of interpersonal relations which is hard to begin to understand, but if you try…! It actually becomes fairly easy. It’s a matter of practice. Let’s start immediately.
2021 Hugo Award Review: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
In her 2016 short story “The City Born Great” N. K. Jemisin introduced us to a homeless youth who was actually the avatar of New York City. The City We Became is a novel that takes the original short story as its prologue and proceeds to expand on the premise: the city’s avatar has gone…
