10 Reasons #GamerGate Was A Failure

Twitter conversations: surprisingly light on nuance.

By Tom Baker /

It's important to hear both sides of a conversation. Or at least, that's been one of the (many) rallying cries during the #GamerGate scandal, an ongoing debate/argument/hissy fit currently raging across all forms of social media, which allegedly has something to do with corruption in games journalism but might actually be about something very different indeed. It's a topic that tends to bring up some strong opinions - as video games often do; anybody playing during the height of the Nintendo vs Sega wars will attest to that €“ which means that, often, only one side of the story comes through. There have been some notable successes in some of the goals #GamerGate set out to achieve. But that's not to ignore all of the ways that the movement, or whatever you want to call it, has been an abject failure. It set out to uncover some of the hidden crumminess inherent in the medium and yet, in the process, also ended up reaffirming a lot of sad stereotypes about gaming that have still yet to be dispelled. It's a complex issue that deserves a nuanced look which is why, along with looking at some of those achievements, it's also important to discuss the ten reasons why #GamerGate was a failure.