Wake up. On @AngryJoeShow and the decline of #GamerGate.

I don't really know/watch @AngryJoeShow, but I understand he's popular and influential. Props to him for his #GamerGate rant. http://angryjoeshow.com/ajsa/topic/25598-final-ajsa-gg-thread-angry-joes-gg-position/ -- read it all. Take all the time you need.



While I don't necessarily agree with everything, he does raise some great points, one of which is how useless #GamerGate has been lately. Why? It is being played by its extreme opponents like a fiddle, engaging it in a nasty back and forth with them.



A friend described it best when they said: “At this point it's two monkeys throwing shit at each other in the jungle, and they both smell so bad all the other animals want nothing to do with them.”



And this is exactly what the Anti-GG want: for any curious neutral to have a gag reflex when they click on the hashtag. And that's just clicking on the hashtag, in which case the search results are way milder than what happens in the replies.



And apart from the jungle fights, internally things aren't much better either. I just watched a decent video on how the BDSM community dealt with the "SJWs". But no, it wasn't enough to call the opponents "Social Justice Warriors". They're "Social Justice Wankers" now. Good luck helping your cause with that.



This anger, this hatred, no matter how justified (and in many cases it's simply not) is exactly why while many would support fighting for ethics in journalism or against the authoritarian propaganda of the chronically offended, they will never want to associate with #GamerGate.



I have a fairly thick skin, so I can take it. I keep clicking on the hashtag and I keep visiting KiA because it allows me to discover some excellent material supporting the cause(s). Most of it produced by non-GG (e.g. libertarian media, independent thinkers, etc.), but sure, hardcore #GamerGaters also say something inspiring and thought-provoking and bookmark-worthy every now and then. I even follow a few. But man, digging in is often so hard without nose plugs.



Why did I use the word "decline"? Because things got visibly worse in the last couple of weeks. Just this last week anti-GG managed to get GG talk about child pornography and post images of sperm on a photo of a woman (and btw with GG committing the fallacy of associating one troll with the whole anti-GG movement -- rings a bell?).



All atrocious attacks on GG? Sure. But GG does not understand how basic psychology works. There's this saying that if someone steals a bike from Kowalski, all people would remember a month later is that there was this Kowalski guy and he was somehow involved with a stolen bike. And so instead of blocking the fuck out of every extreme anti-GG and never engaging in any direct discussion with them or megaphoning their anti-GG venom, GG does exactly the opposite.



Slow clap, anti-GG, you're achieving your goals: people hear #GamerGate and the immediate association is "angry shit-slinging". Well done.



Not engaging is hard. Someone says something that makes you furious and it's almost unbearable not to set the facts straight right away. But this is exactly what needs to happen. I find it hilarious how #GamerGate laughs at the opponents of Hatred game and the Streisand effect, and then they do EXACT SAME THING to every poison that leaves an anti's mouth.



Still feel the need to reply? Do this: https://twitter.com/ChloeSeashell/status/549970135294164993 not this: https://twitter.com/firrabbit/status/549887805519060992



Wake up. Your strongest weapons are logic and reason, but they're ineffective when accompanied by the vocabulary of 12 years old playing CoD. Your way to win to have the public on your side, but that's impossible to achieve when most GG-produced materials are "internal use only" expletives-ridden circle-jerk fanzines. But most of all, stop helping the anti-GG throw shit on the hashtag. No, I don't think it's FUBAR, but it's so dirty at the moment it probably needs a bath in acid, not water.



So yeah, with all that in mind, props to @AngryJoeShow to open a #GamerGate thread on his forum. Quite frankly, it's a Christmas miracle.



It also begs a question: imagine what would happen if other influential figures wouldn't need a skin as thick as Joe's or Total Biscuit's to have a dialogue or even be friendly towards #GamerGate?

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