(Link: https://aftermath.site/games-journalism-game-development-ign-kotaku)
I can't help but think how true this is for the internet as a whole. We've proven so conclusively over the last 10 years, it feels like, that armed with the proper tools and language, marginalized groups will instantly turn those tools and language on their own in a misguided attempt to maintain the moral high ground, or to cynically attempt to self-protect by socially ousting anyone less cynical than they are.
and of course this leads to exactly what you'd think it would - social spaces where to hope is to be a contemptible fool. Easier to write long, lecturing posts about why everyone else should have expected failure from the beginning. Idk. I can't not tie this all together in my head, from puritanical tumblr sex-policing to twitter brigades over "problematic" writing because evil characters aren't explicitly punished, to, yes, the almost eager way many other marginalized people and queer devs now seem to root for the failure of each other's communities now that we're all split apart. I can't not see it all stemming from the same sort of vibe. It's been with us for a long time.
I think, more than anything else, it's a good reminder to me that cynicism isn't an end-all be-all. That it may keep me apart from bad actors, but it'll also prevent me from ever seeing - or supporting - the good ones. I fall into this trap a lot! But I really feel that all-consuming negativity is something to be worked against, not a coherent life philosophy.
