I started writing on this blog again largely because of the issue of online harassment in games. My experience working in MMOs has long convinced me that online harassment in games is off the rails, and is a serious issue that is preventing the market from growing. This is not a theory for me. When I worked on UO, we more than doubled our subscribers when we started cracking down on horrible people. Bad people drive good people away, and they know it. They revel in it.
Along the way, it became clear that, while the extreme assholes of the gaming community are worse than most, the problem of online harassment is a very real problem and affects people on all sides of the political spectrum, but with a decided focus on marginalized voices such as activists working to improve the treatment of women, gays, transgender and black voices.
I’ve come to a very clear conclusion: if you believe that the Internet is the future that our economy, discourse and lives will be built upon, then the ability for marginalized voices to work and communicate online is one of the most important and challenging civil rights issues of our time.
Apparently, Google also sees this as a problem that needs to be fixed.
Fighting online abuse w/ @FeministaJones @TheQuinnspiracy @roseveleth @randileeharper @jamiaw @CCRInitiative @femfreq pic.twitter.com/5xPp3jVL0T
— Google Ideas (@googleideas) September 23, 2015
You would think that everyone would be in favor of Google cracking down on online harassment. After all, despicable scumbags are still doing despicable things targeting people on all sides of a conflict for lols. Actually you wouldn’t think that, and you’d be right. The response was immediate, ridiculous and hyperbolic. Google appeared unphased.
The replies to our last tweet are precisely why we are exploring ways to combat online harassment. — Google Ideas (@googleideas) September 23, 2015
Warning: reading the responses to either of these two tweets is very likely to make your eyes roll so hard they pop right out of your skull.
This morning, Anita and Zoe also spoke at the UN about their experiences. It’s being live-streamed as I write this, but I’ll try to put a video up when one becomes available. Still, the UN and Google are major and important voices that are fighting for the idea that the Internet can be a better place that it is now. If nothing else, if the last year can spur some sort of meaningful action on this front, perhaps some good will come of it. (Edit: Video is here, jump to 1:21)
Great post. This all reminds me of hateful subcultures within CB/HAM radio culture. I had already HAM’d in the 80’s before I had Usenet/CompuServe/BBS(s).
The overlap wasn’t surprising. Even now, many wordsmiths are likening Twitter_culture to CB_radio_culture. “chicken_haulers” became “flamebaiters,” and such. There is so much overlap… even the old CB-License requirements to eliminate “anonymity” eventually failed and anonymous chicken_haulers ran wild. Same game; different dice I suppose.
Can’t reform ’em –MF DOOM
Great article, and agree.
The health and viability of online spaces can only be improved by getting rid of the trolls and horrible people.
As a small aside, I returned to SWTOR a few weeks back – and love the game. It’s added so much, and is a wonderful, rich gaming experience.
But it’s the community that can make or break a game. I’ve found the SWTOR community to be fantastic – very helpful and polite. My overall experiences with other players have enjoyable.
Randi harper, a person in that photo has actually been proven to have doxed a person. So sorry if I find her talking to google about preventing online harassment laughable.
Maybe if you were not so busy rolling your eyes you would have seen the screen cap of Harper tweeting the home phone number of a CEO. Was the the CEO of some debt collecting service that was apparently contacting Harper.
Also in the UN presentation Anita seemed to confuse people making youtube videos that criticize her work with harassment.
But remember, listen and believe and for gods sake never question.