Post 13

Some thoughts on how #GamerGate looks in its third month.

There's some questions about whether the Nick Dentor "leak" is legitimate. The "leak" is a Facebook post from Dentor where he claims to have hired freelance individuals to join the #GamerGate movement and obstruct their efforts. Specifically, to work on the same level as the GamerGate harassment patrol and engage in "tone policing". In other words, to claim to be on the same side but take the attention and outward momentum and turn it inwards, creating needless infighting. There are two issues here: first, why would Denton let something like this "leak"? Certainly Denton is not stupid, knowing posting something of this nature on social media would leave it vulnerable to getting out. Denton is aware his social circle is not entirely homogeneous and there might be a person who might have shared it. This analysis makes this leak appear dubious at best.

Second involves #GamerGate's contribution. #GamerGate mind discussed this possibility weeks ago. Following the Anita Sarkeesian Utah State University death threat and false link to #GamerGate, the group mobilized to create a robust anti-harassment patrol which would seek out and take down accounts of individuals who engaged in harassment, whether they were pro- or anti-GamerGate. I was among the minds that brought this scenario ahead; in short, I mused there would be a vulnerability which comes from an open movement that begins to police or regulate itself. People who are against the movement can dawn the colours of the movement and start disrupting the execution of the group. That being stated, you can take it as a brief experiment: there is no effort to derail #GamerGate is our hypothesis. We then observe an influx of tone policing. In-fighting begins. Trace accounts back to newly created people with no history. Evidence shows people popping into existence that join, tone police, and disrupt the efforts by creating infighting. Conclusions can be drawn from the evidence.

The gap exists now between these people and the Denton "leak". Let me be clear: I despise "listen and believe" but I adhere to "trust and verify". That said, I trust KingofPol entirely and believe he puts the truth above all other things, including his image (e.g., interesting claims about the number of Jews killed in The Holocaust, something I haven't looked into myself). This image has emerged in the last 16 hours: (THIS HAS BEEN DEBUNKED, READ BELOW)

This image was given leaked to the Twitterverse and taken up by #GamerGate as evidence of freelance payment from Gawker Media (i.e., Denton) for undisclosed work. It's obvious there are many missing key pieces of information here, such as the work performed or the job title. Where the story changes is entirely thanks to The Ralph Retort:

A few interesting points here: why so many likes? Does Denton have bots on his friends list that like everything he says? This is not what most people would consider a "likable post". I question this simply because of how the entire comments are removed, rather than just the commentor's names and pictures. Curious, but I do not have the ability to discredit this or the original post beyond simple conjecture.

So, GamerGate predicts this happening. It happens. It is sourced, even if there are some questionable elements and a couple of small gaps. Is this not enough to focus #GamerGate on what is really going on? This isn't just about minor infractions of friendships and positive press. This isn't only about rigged awards for indie devs. This is about how media puts itself above the people who consume it, using that arrogance to push agendas and narratives which do not represent, at best, or slander, at worst, the consumers.

We are the consumers. If we walk, the industry dies. We are the ones with the power. Let media outlets know that. Keep emailing. Keep focused. Together, #GamerGate will enact the changes we desire, leaving smoldering wrecks of organizations that disregarded their consumers.

This was an unedited rant. @nrokchi

Here's the edits now:

Yes, the bank statement image has been debunked. It's entirely bogus and a repeat attempt of another effort to make it appear Gawker is paying people to shitpost. To clarify, I never stated it to be taken as truth, just that people were using it as evidence. I had my doubts because, as I stated, there is no information giving context to that payment. No context, no trust.

Thank you to those who let me know it had been debunked.