Gamergate was a warning that the media failed to heed - Poynter

"In the mid-2010s, loosely organized online movements began spilling into the real world, catching popular culture off guard and leaving many journalists flat-footed in unfamiliar internet territory. You know their names. Pizzagate. QAnon. And the most consequential of all, MAGA: a mainstream political movement fueled in part by a fervent online contingent. But before all that came Gamergate, the proving ground where the tactics were tested."

"By late summer 2014, long-simmering resentment in parts of the video game community risked boiling over. The $80 billion industry was booming, attracting a wider and more diverse audience - and with it, sharper scrutiny of a culture still rooted in its "nerd" identity. As journalists began asking hard questions about persistent sexism, racism and homophobia in parts of the culture, a vocal subset of players pushed back."

"A man named Eron Gjoni wrote a six-part blog that alleged his girlfriend, independent game developer Zoë Quinn, had been sleeping with a video game journalist and receiving favorable coverage in return. The claims were never substantiated and the supposed coverage didn't exist. But the accusations lit up Twitter, spreading through gaming forums, Reddit threads and YouTube channels at a pace few newsrooms - even those focu"

Loosely organized online movements in the mid-2010s began spilling into real-world politics and culture, producing phenomena such as Pizzagate, QAnon and MAGA. Gamergate emerged earlier as a proving ground for tactics that later spread to other movements. By late summer 2014, resentment in parts of the video game community intensified as the booming $80 billion industry attracted a broader audience and scrutiny of entrenched sexism, racism and homophobia. A vocal subset of players pushed back with slogans like “Keep your politics out of it.” Personal accusations against developer Zoë Quinn spread rapidly across Twitter, forums, Reddit and YouTube, amplifying harassment and misinformation.

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