The Information Cascade Driving the GamerGate Controversy
Gamergate is an ongoing controversy in the video gaming community, involving ethics of game developers and journalists, as well as how misogyny is perpetuated in video game culture. The controversy started when the ex-boyfriend of a game developer named Zoe Quinn wrote a blog post accusing her of having an intimate relationship with a journalist from a prominent gaming news site, purportedly to gain positive reviews of her game. Since then, Quinn and other members of the gaming community (mostly women) have received death threats and have been subject to the release of their private personal information. Some critics and developers, including Quinn, have been forced to leave their homes because of these threats. Meanwhile, the goals driving those opposed to Quinn have become muddled as more people joined the controversy: it started with journalism ethics and grew to serve as a vehicle for anti-feministic messages.
This controversy can be modeled as a real world example of an information cascade. It is similar to scenario’s we have studied in class: one statement (of questionable validity) is made about a claim, and soon other people with similar beliefs see this and also begin to make that claim. These suspicions of corruption and were preexisting in the gaming industry, such that many people already had some information about the issue. When the blog post was released and many gamers began to show their support, the rest of the group that became involved did so because the people already supporting it served as extra information in support of their belief. Just like in the simulation with the red and blue marbles, many people decided to follow what others were doing when it came to taking sides, even if it meant going against their personal info/experiences.
Certain supporters of Quinn have since pointed out that the allegations asserted by her ex-boyfriend were not well founded and had little proof, but by that point the information cascade had already taken hold of the gaming community and criticism against her continued to rise.
Sources:
http://www.n3rdabl3.co.uk/2014/10/tide-turning-gaming-says-anita-sarkeesian-way-going-gamergate/