this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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In any group of people there will always be a tiny subset of the population who will pull this unhinged bullshit. It's unfortunate, but now the CEO gets to play the victim, and anyone who's against his bullshit gets to be painted with the same brush as the unhinged guy.
I never understand freaking out about death threats. If someone actually wanted to murder you, they’d be quiet and methodical about it, not grandiose. To be fair, I’ve never received a death threat so perhaps I’m not theeeeeeeeeeeee
I mean you are assuming the person who is trying to murder you is a rational actor but you can't really be a rational actor if you are threatening death to someone because of their shit monetization policies on your entertainment. Hell some people throw "Death threats" at people because they decide to change a reload speed by a fraction of a second. So yeah "gamers" can be quite unhinged. Hell you had idiots in Jan 6 who loudly stated their intention and beat a cop to death. Hell we have seen situations of weirdos getting close to celebrities (in their heads) then trying to kill them, and I imagine cases like that will only get worse with parasocial relationships getting a bit out of hand with modern influences and streamers.
There might be a reason people freak out about death threats...
Not trying to justify threats, but freaking out over one 40-year old event seems like overreaction, may not be the best argument.
How 'bout last year?
I can’t reply, sorry. I’m dead.
RIP gullible
That's the fallacy of trying to understand criminal acts. For the most part, if someone were as smart, logical, and thoughtful as you are when you imagine the best way to commit murder, the kind of person to actually try and commit the murder would not be as smart, logical, or thoughtful to have gotten into that situation in the first place.
There are exceptions, of course, but it's enough of a possibility that it's probably better to take them seriously than not.
Edit: typed all that, scrolled down, some other dude already said it
You should sort of expect to get some strong reactions when things are difficult economically and you make a statement saying, "sorry peasants, I need a shareholder bonus so your livelihood has to go. Also, fuck you."
If the threats are to him, dunno, he's done amazing harm. I'll just say jury is out on how appropriate they are in his case.
Ah, the GamerGate issue. A hugely fascinating dive into consumer management & fury.
It has come up a few times in college communications courses, but it's difficult to have a neutral discussion about.