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DICTATING THE TERMS: GAMERGATE, DEMOCRACY, AND (IN)EQUALITY ON REDDIT Shane Michael Snyder A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2019 Committee: Radhika Gajjala, Committee Chair Laura Landry-Meyer Graduate Faculty Representative Sandra Faulkner Timothy Messer-Kruse © 2019 Shane Snyder All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Radhika Gajjala, Committee Chair In late 2014 the mainstream press reported about a far-right movement that sought to discredit feminist, anti-racist, and trans-inclusive interventions in the video games industry, its products, and its consumer culture. Called GamerGate by its devotees, the movement began when American game designer Zoë Quinn weathered public harassment after her ex-boyfriend published a five-part essay falsely alleging she had sex with a game journalist to collect a positive review for her game Depression Quest. GamerGate activists launched a smear campaign against Quinn but attempted to absolve themselves of harassment by rebranding the movement as a game consumer revolt against unethical journalists and leftist academics. Almost five years later, GamerGate continues to grow in membership on its official subreddit, /r/KotakuInAction, which is a self-governed community hosted on the popular discussion forum-based social media platform Reddit. Shortly after /r/KotakuInAction materialized, a conscientious objector created the pro-feminist /r/GamerGhazi to resist GamerGate. Despite Reddit’s massive user base, its 1.2 million subreddits, and its ubiquity in American culture, it remains an underexplored space in the academic literature. Academics have neither adequately addressed Reddit’s role in promoting far-right communities like /r/KotakuInAction, nor the efficacy of using Reddit as a space for staging feminist resistance to such communities. Drawing from feminist epistemology, intersectionality, and masculinity studies, this dissertation investigates /r/KotakuInAction and /r/GamerGhazi’s use of the Reddit interface—most particularly its upvoting and downvoting mechanic—to shape debates around feminism and critical race issues in American culture. iv The research is based on data collected over the course of six months from discussion threads on each subreddit, subreddit wiki documents, and the video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Using a mixed methods approach defined by textual analysis of site commentary and wiki documents, visual analysis of each subreddit’s aesthetic and a video game text, and an analysis of Reddit’s user interface and algorithm, this dissertation addresses the political tensions and contradictions within and between /r/KotakuInAction and /r/GamerGhazi. This project concludes that Reddit’s design and algorithm make it unlikely for intersectional feminist communities to thrive on the platform. v For my dad, mom, wife Erin, and cat Frankie Without whose unconditional love and support this project never would have been vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to my brilliant, insightful, and attentive dissertation committee. The many hours my dissertation chair, Dr. Radhika Gajjala, devoted to directing my focus, calming my nerves, poring over the finer details of my argument, and assuring me of this project’s importance and originality empowered me with the confidence to temporarily set aside my unearned feelings of academic fraudulence. I am also profoundly grateful for the indispensable insights of my committee members. Dr. Sandra Faulkner taught me the importance of remaining flexible, creative, and empathetic in my research methods. Dr. Timothy Messer- Kruse reminded me that a research project of this scope is merely iterative, never finished, and that new questions are always hiding in plain sight. I am also eternally grateful to my graduate representative, Dr. Laura Landry-Meyer, who took on this project at short notice and gave it careful attention. Special thanks also go to Dr. Jolie Sheffer, who over the last four years not only helped me improve the clarity, concision, and depth of my writing, but profoundly shaped my professional persona. Her detailed and insightful advice greatly added to my understanding of the theoretical concepts that structure this dissertation. As my former supervisor at the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society (ICS), she taught me that professionalism engenders confidence. I will forever value my two years working as her Graduate Research Assistant at the ICS. I could not have advanced through this incredible, life-changing program were it not for the support of my cohort and the American Culture Studies program. To Aju and Tessa especially, wherever you go, you are my lifelong friends. I will miss visiting your office any day of the week to vent about the job market, our dissertations, and the many obstacles that await us. I am also deeply indebted to the American Culture Studies graduate secretary, Beka Patterson, without whose support and availability I would frequently have been lost. vii I owe a special thanks to Flatlands Coffee and its talented baristas for providing a welcoming venue to draft most of this dissertation. Flatlands is a shining gem in Bowling Green’s downtown region. May it flourish for many years to come. I would also like to thank my friends and family back home in Sacramento, California. For the last six years I have been swamped with graduate work and all the stresses that come along with it, but I could always rely on you to be there when I needed you most. Last but certainly not least, Dr. Garrett Gilmer guided me through this difficult process. For his two years of service to me, I am forever in his debt. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Breakdowns .............................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER ONE. A MOVEMENT BEGINS: GAMERGATE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND THE REDDIT PLATFORM ...................................................................................................... 7 GamerGate’s Beginnings ....................................................................................... 7 Reddit and Its Subreddits ....................................................................................... 18 Reddit the Platform..................................................................................... 18 /r/KotakuInAction ...................................................................................... 21 /r/GamerGhazi ............................................................................................ 26 Toward a Definition of Social Justice ..................................................................... 28 Academic Social Justice ............................................................................. 28 Social Justice in /r/KotakuInAction ............................................................ 32 Social Justice in /r/GamerGhazi .................................................................. 37 A Note on My Use of the Term “Activist” .................................................. 39 The Game Consumer Identity................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER TWO. APPRECIATING RESEARCHER BIAS: METHODOLOGY, METHOD, AND THE FEMINIST QUESTION .................................................................................. 45 Feminist Methodology ........................................................................................... 47 What is a Feminist Methodology?............................................................... 47 Feminist Standpoint and the Problem of Essentialism ................................. 51 Intersectionality .......................................................................................... 58 ix Masculinity ................................................................................................ 61 Combining Intersectionality and Masculinity .............................................. 65 How I Adopt a Feminist Methodology ........................................................ 67 Methods ................................................................................................................. 70 Challenges with Data Collection on Reddit ................................................. 70 A Note About Online Versus Offline Data and Internet Research Ethics ..... 73 Data Collection Methods ............................................................................ 77 Multiple Methods and Primary Sources ...................................................... 79 CHAPTER THREE. (RE)WRITING HISTORY: GOVERNANCE, ACTIVISM, AND DIVISION ON REDDIT ................................................................................................... 84 (Re)Constructing History on /r/KotakuInAction ..................................................... 85 (Re)Defining the Terms .............................................................................. 86 Don’t Call It a Movement ........................................................................... 97 Violent Video Games, Politicians, and the Game Consumer Identity .......... 103 Care, Politics, and White Trans Resources on /r/GamerGhazi................................. 107 Transgender Care Resources and Masculine Discomfort ............................. 107 Dismantling Transgender Mythologies, Confronting
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