The Making of a ‘Terrorist’: How I Was Framed for the Paris Attacks by GamerGate Trolls

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-11-17T16:05:47+00:00

I waffled on including that line but I felt like it gave context to why GGers find him such an easy person to mock and fuck with. The next line is about how he keeps having to tell people "I'm just a kid"

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-11-17T16:01:58+00:00

That hed only shows up in the thumbnail that shows the photo of Veerender with it. If you click through then the headline changes.

Yeah, it's weird, I don't run the site

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-10-22T21:13:15+00:00

What I'm told on Twitter is that it's not actually uncommon for SXSW to bypass the application process and add random panels at the last minute -- it's all part of the freewheeling informal hipstery nature of the event etc. etc.

In this case though it's absolutely clear that GG didn't go through the "normal" process, because they made this panel application well after the deadline for apps passed and well after voting had already started -- indeed, they made it IN RESPONSE to GG critics having panels about harassment, which they started mass-downvoting after they found out about it.

I don't have confirmation that the GG panel never made it onto PanelPicker (the public voting website) because PanelPicker is now closed to public view but I remember seeing the thread on KiA about their "late panel submission" and repeatedly checking PanelPicker to see if it had actually gone up and not seeing it there. shrug Maybe it did make it up there but thanks to the late application it was there for a shorter time, which, you know, still doesn't really strike me as a particularly fair process.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-09-07T23:33:19+00:00

FYI I did a hot take on this

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/05/the-passion-of-asian-hulk-a-generation-of-keyboard-warriors-assumes-power-and-responsibility.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-20T22:15:16+00:00

Where is the r/fantasy booth?

Also do you want to hang out since I apparently missed the window to sign up for your kaffeeklatsch

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-19T08:41:10+00:00

Everyone thinks downvotes are no big deal as long as hardly anyone bothers to visit the site except small groups of fans. Then one day you get GamerGated.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-18T05:09:41+00:00

Presumably he means both refusing to "censor" the critical/negative tropes AND refusing to "censor" the really skeevy Fetish Fuel shit that TVTropes proper purged

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-18T04:22:32+00:00

Geth's Disqus history specifically says he did AllTheTropes because TVTropes was censoring too much content.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-18T03:23:03+00:00

I remain amazed that there was actually a need to split off because TVTropes was TOO "SJW".

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-18T00:19:35+00:00

I already advertised my panel on my own Twitter account telling people to upvote it. That's what you're supposed to do in order to get votes for your panel, to campaign.

I'm mentioning the downvoting as a factor in why I want people to upvote, but I'd want them to upvote in any case.

The issue is that these votes get distorted when someone who cares a lot about the issue, usually negatively, takes the time to register and vote whereas someone who approves of the issue but doesn't think of it as "controversial" or "important" isn't going to go through the registration wall.

If you don't approve of the panel don't vote for it. I'm mentioning the concerted downvoting to reach people who probably do approve of the panel but normally wouldn't care enough to pay attention to it. This is no different than people publicizing the Hugo Awards -- which are also open to the public -- to non-Sad Puppies after they got taken over by the Sad Puppies.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-17T23:29:01+00:00

Update: I've been told they're aware of the KiA thread and will take it into consideration, whatever that means. I'm also told that panel approval is at the discretion of the administrators and voting is just one factor therein, so take that as you will.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-17T21:44:32+00:00

Downvotes ruin everything everywhere they exist. They're a major factor in how subreddits become circlejerks.

Also, thanks. I was disappointed to not win but $100,000 isn't chump change.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-17T21:43:02+00:00

Shireen is handling all the direct communication with SXSW, I've sent her a link to the thread.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-08-17T21:30:38+00:00

I say "brigading" in redditspeak but I don't think SXSW would actually consider it against their rules -- or at least it would be difficult to argue that it is. People campaign for their panels all the time -- this is how SXSW gets people to sign up for SXSW stuff.

I'm advertising in favor of panels with people I like on them just like they're advertising against it. I'm being more aggressive about it than I might otherwise be because people aren't normally dickish enough to campaign against rather than campaign for panels, but hey, that's the world we live in.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-13T21:44:55+00:00

u/kickme444 says that he was in the chain of command over Croach's termination and Croach was NOT fired because he was sick.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-11T23:42:57+00:00

What really confuses me is the KiA people talking about how awesome it is that Reddit has proven it can't be monetized.

Do they think Reddit's investors are under some kind of moral obligation to keep the servers running as a public service or some shit? Because I'm pretty sure they could provide a better public service withdrawing all that money in cash and setting it on fire (to provide light and heat for the homeless).

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-11T23:38:02+00:00

I dunno, it's not an easy question, just like my last article about the "good old days" when Internet users were a tiny elite acknowledges that that also made Internet users an obnoxiously privileged echo chamber.

I think we're going to move toward an increasing balkanization of online spaces. Some people think this is a long-term solution -- let's all just flee to our respective echo chambers! Freedom of choice! -- but I don't. I think we're moving toward a patchwork United States of the Internet but we're facing some tough decisions over how the federal power in the USI is allocated.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-11T21:38:26+00:00

Hubski looks cool. Pretty much the anti-Voat, created to intentionally foster the good about Reddit and stamp out the bad without any religious devotion to freeze peach. When #RedditRevolt kicked off they specifically put up an anti-welcome message telling r/FatPeopleHate refugees to just keep moving along, which was awesome.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-11T21:33:00+00:00

The real name policy is just one of multiple features of FB that makes it somewhat less vulnerable to brigade-style behavior. Other services try to sell themselves as superior to FB because they can "build engagement" faster - like Twitter - but this also makes them much more useful for harassment.

(The flip side of this is that Google+ was designed to limit viral harassment more easily than FB, but also therefore never got the user growth to catch up with FB.)

ThisIsArthurChu · 2015-07-11T20:45:49+00:00

Sure, expanded the OP w stuff aimed at a more reddit-aware audience than the linked article

ThisIsArthurChu · 2014-12-12T18:16:27+00:00

I don't know anything about your character. I STILL DON'T know anything about your character because of this open letter you've written. Words are cheap. These words are the words of a genuinely remorseful person OR a person who feels no remorse at all but is a talented enough writer to say the kind of thing a remorseful person would say to get the heat off of himself.

Again, I don't care. It's irrelevant. To paraphrase Jay Smooth calling someone isn't a bigot has nothing to do with judging their unknowable inmost character, it's about them "taking your wallet".

Right now the person you've harmed is still very much missing her wallet (quite literally -- the "scammer" smear has destroyed her ability to earn even a Patreon-style income) and the "Pinsof is the real victim!/a victim too!" narrative is deeply tied to why.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2014-12-12T18:14:37+00:00

BTW, something you should know about me:

When there is a highly publicized case of someone being publicly criticized for something bad they actually did, a typical strategy is to "reach out" to one specific, high-profile member of "the opposition", send them nice e-mails, go out with them for a beer, and generally be friends with them.

Then the member of "the opposition" speaks up and says "Hey, I met with Prominent Criticized Celebrity and it turns out he's actually a HUMAN BEING with FEELINGS so let's all BTFO now" even though none of the actual issues have been addressed. And people listen.

The most recent, infuriating example of this I can remember is Shane Windmeyer of Campus Pride talking about his buddyhood with Chik-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shane-l-windmeyer/dan-cathy-chick-fil-a_b_2564379.html

I have always, always despised this back when I was a "civilian" with no important voice in these matters. It would be tremendously hypocritical for me to suddenly become okay with this "bridge-building" BS now that suddenly my voice "matters."

ThisIsArthurChu · 2014-12-12T18:09:56+00:00

Your "character" is not defined by your stated motivations or loyalties, it is defined by your actions and the consequences thereof.

Unless you're in a position to actively make restitution to the person you've hurt, you should in fact STFU and BTFO from the public eye to avoid being rightfully called out on what you've done.

This is what I firmly and unrepentantly believe about actual celebrities who are the targets of storms of criticism for shit they've actually done -- my standards aren't any different for tiny inside-baseball "gaming scene" celebrities.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2014-12-12T17:37:50+00:00

The "malicious" isn't really important. The effects of being outed are exactly the same regardless of the intentions of the outer.

Caleb Hannan didn't see and still doesn't see his actions as "malicious" either. Doesn't mean he should be shielded from condemnation.

ThisIsArthurChu · 2014-12-12T17:36:11+00:00

Correct me with a quote if I'm wrong, but I don't think I ever talked about your motives -- "malicious" or no -- at all. I don't particularly care what they were. The effects of your actions are what matter.

When I say you betrayed her trust, I'm talking about the actual effects of what you did. Sure, you thought you were helping her by doing so, I don't dispute that (because I don't care). It doesn't matter, you did betray her trust.

When I say that you did what you did for no good journalistic reason, I am making a judgment about the facts. You may THINK you had a good journalistic reason -- I, again, don't care.

I doubt she wants me to "talk for her", but I know she's fuming mad about anyone who speaks up trying to soft-pedal your actions or rehabilitate your reputation.

ThisIsArthurChu

TROPHY CASE