The internet has long been a dark and mysterious entity, hosting a platform for anonymous interaction often accompanied by very little repercussions. One site made possible by this unique platform is 4chan, a purely anonymous imageboard in which posts are sorted in chronological order. This foundation of anonymity, when mixed with its light treatment of moderation, only further drives the controversy often invoked by this infamous site. Controversy such as that which broke out August of 2014, the beginning of Gamergate. 4chan played an instrumental role in this controversial pseudo-movement that snowballed from a blog post written by the ex-boyfriend of the game developer Zoë Quinn (1). This pseudo-movement fabricated an issue of unethical relations between game developers, like Zoë, and game journalists. However, it was later found out that Gamergate was almost entirely orchestrated by 4chan users who went as far as to use “sockpuppet accounts” on social media platforms such as Twitter and Reddit to artificially push Gamergate into the mainstream media’s attention (1).
This situation of Gamergate created a social dynamic which has never existed before 4chan’s internet influence. Although sensationalized media has been around much longer, the degree at which such a small number of internet users were able to turn a small hoax into a global controversy was never seen before. If anything, this signified the evolution of a preexisting social dynamic seen on social media, the ‘internet troll’, someone who uses provocation to incite emotional reactions while maintaining anonymity (2). While previously ‘internet trolls’ tended to work alone, or at least with little organization, what Gamergate showed was the extreme power ‘internet trolls’ were capable of, given the chance to use platforms such as 4chan to organize themselves while maintaining anonymity.
After 4chan established this pseudo-movement, they were able to continue their harassment now further protected by a falsified notion of social justice. Under this flag of social justice they gained supporters from vast isolated like-minded groups that had formed over the years on different social media platforms (3). A level of recruitment on this scale was made possible only through social media, as social media tends to create a mob mentality rather than a collaborative community of different ideas. Fueled by this mob mentality, 4chan users, along with their pseudo-movement’s supporters, went as far as to hack Zoë’s computer and leak nude images of herself to her father (3). They also similarly targeted her sympathisers including Anita Sarkeesian (1) and Phil Fish; Phil later left the gaming industry as a result (4).
In the end, what 4chan set out to do was accomplished. They hoped to cause chaos for chaos’ sake, rather than any genuine social agenda. 4chan, organized by their anomalous social media platform, were able to abuse the naive mob mentality of social media communities. Therefore, we can conclude that the ‘newness’ of this abusive dynamic lead directly to 4chan’s success as no one knew how to deal with the situation.
Works Cited:
(1) Johnston, Casey. “Chat Logs Show How 4chan Users Created #GamerGate Controversy.” Ars Technica, Condé Nast, 9 Sept. 2014, arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/. Accessed 6 November 2018.
(2) Moreau, Elise. “Here’s What You Need to Know About Internet Trolling.” Lifewire, Dotdash, 5 Oct. 2018, www.lifewire.com/what-is-internet-trolling-3485891. Accessed 6 November 2018.
(3) McKeon, Lauren. “How Gamergate Pioneered the Backlash Against Diversity.” The Walrus, The Walrus Foundation, 11 Sept. 2017, thewalrus.ca/how-gamergate-pioneered-the-backlash-against-diversity-in-technology/. Accessed 6 November 2018.
(4) Johnston, Casey. “The Death of the ‘Gamers’ and the Women Who ‘Killed’ Them.” Ars Technica, Condé Nast, 29 Aug. 2014, arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/08/the-death-of-the-gamers-and-the-women-who-killed-them/. Accessed 6 November 2018.