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PAX East 2014: Why Internet Jerks Aren’t Going to Win, And You Can Help

Depression Quest designer Zoe Quinn joined me to talk about the Internet, and how we can make things just a tiny bit better.

Apr. 17 2014

Cast: Patrick

Posted by: Patrick

In This Episode:

PAX East 2014

282 Comments

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AtheistPreacher

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Ended up watching this after Giant Bomb TV started playing the 2014 PAX East Panel this morning. I didn't have time to watch the panel as I was walking out the door to work, so looked it up on the site and found this as well. Interesting stuff... and also kinda spooky considering this was after Quinn started getting harassed over her game, but about four months before Gamergate proper had happened. Anyway, it's worth watching.

One thing I did want to add, years after this thing has been posted. The last question had to do with whether the benefits of sarcasm outweigh the negatives, or vice-versa. It reminded me of John Scalzi's maxim: "The failure mode of 'clever' is 'asshole.'" Words to live by.

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PrivodOtmenit

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Edited By PrivodOtmenit

@mrplow8 said:

You know how people who don't smoke will sometimes say that they prefer the smoking section to the non-smoking section, because that's where all the cool people are? That's sort of how I feel about this topic. I don't necessarily agree with the things that the aforementioned Internet jerks say, but I find them to be much more tolerable than the people who think that Internet jerkaryis this huge problem that we all need to do something about. I put jerks on the Internet in the same category I would place a Justin Bieber song playing on the radio. Sure, it might be annoying, but ultimately it's not a big deal, and I'm probably not even going to think about it again for the rest of the day.

These people who talk about fighting online trolling and negative comments as if they're talking about fighting cancer are far more bothersome in my view. If there ever comes a point where the Internet has a jerk section and a non-jerk section, you'll find me hanging out in the jerk section.

This is a great post and I 100% agree. In the face of all the GamerGate stuff I'm more comfortable reading (the tamer and mostly non hateful) stuff of "gaters" than I am listening to some of the crazy stuff Brianna Wu tweets, and her followers comment afterwards with. There's a lot of very, very annoying feminists that are much louder than the rational ones.

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sswam

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Edited By sswam

Thank-you, Zoe and Patrick, for this helpful and inspiring panel.

I haven't been bullied on the Internet myself, but I often speak up when I see a mob of jerks harassing someone. I might try using gentler words, thanks to your advice.

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fattony12000

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I have not watched this yet.

I am going to watch this soon.

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DrMacca

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Edited By DrMacca

Finally got around to watching this - great stuff! Superb, thought provoking talks.

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Cynicalbear

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Edited By Cynicalbear

@oddsor: Haha, yeah because creating online content is equivalent to actually engaging people. The internet is still mostly anonymous, and people are cowardly in both respects. If some one slings shit at you, you dodge it and keep going.

What a whiny shit generation we've got to lead the future.

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AnomalusUndrdog

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Edited By AnomalusUndrdog

"Yeah, give me a high five! No, no, please kneel down, I don't feel like getting up from my seat, thank you."

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Eaxis

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Thanks Patrick and Zoe, probably the panel with with the most emotional and heartfelt stuff at this pax.

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Zainyboy

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Fuck you Patrick. I hope you die in a fire.

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Just kidding! Thought provoking panel. Inspired me to try and be a better internet user.

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Cazz89

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Awesome Patrick! Keep up the good work!

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Oddsor

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@cynicalbear: Unless you're a content creator on the internet that gets shit thrown at you thousands of times per day I find it hard to take it seriously when you suggest grow a "thick skin".

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catalex

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This was very thought provoking and informative. Keep up the great work. I am definitely guilty of staying silent and letting negativity pass me by unchecked, but I think I will try and take a stand when I can. Politely, of course. :)

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SirOptimusPrime

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Edited By SirOptimusPrime

@cynicalbear: That's fine and everything, but some can't just "toughen up." Some people are physically incapable of it. I'd agree with the thick skin argument if people were completely homogeneous and not susceptible to chemical inbalance.

But hey.

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deactivated-586642a039045

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Superb talk from both. :)

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Cynicalbear

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@mrplow8: I agree with this guy. It's far easier to just have a thicker skin and just move one from negative or distasteful comments. It's much more annoying to listen to people jump on some sort of internet high horse, and ride into the wonderful and bully free sunset. That shit is annoying. I'm sitting with the jerks too.

I don't know what it is. I'm much older than the average person viewing this kind of thing, and I'm also a minority living in the bible belt. I put up with "Muh Feelings" all the time.

Turn off the computer and toughen up, no one likes a bully, but a whiner, or someone who can't stand up for themselves or gets their feelings hurt often is much more difficult to stomach.

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needsmoredakka

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@ptys: I think it's more the fact that people like Patrick condemn bullying and name calling on one hand and then insult, ridicule or heavily moderate any dissenting opinion with the other.

But what do I know, I've only been bullied in person so I don't know how hard it is to deal with being called names and receiving facetious threats on the internet from people I've never met.

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Splatted

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Great video, but did the guy at the end get his badge?

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markonfire

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As a citizen of the internet, thanks for helping keep its tubes a little safer.

PS I am also guilty of telling people to die in a fire a little more frequently than I probably should. Criticism noted!

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Darkhollow

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Great panel guys! Really enjoyed it and I found it very interesting.

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ptys

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I'm surprised "die in a fire" pissed so many people off. Good talk, had a bit of a shine in my eye when you talked about the GB well-wishers thread.

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ajroo

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@fiercedeity: If you cant see the difference between Patrick's admission of guilt and shared lesson, and someone who continually uses the internet as a weapon without a moment of hesitance or self examination, that is a shame.

We all "f" up. I regard those who take mistakes and use them for positive change different than those who dont consider anyone else long enough to even care.

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Tomzombie

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Edited By Tomzombie

i took y'all idea for positivity and I comment on people who had sad posts on some peoples journals on Da and at some point in another there :HUG: this video inspried me to post kind stuff to people on that website and thank you Patrick and Zoe

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Nettacki

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Edited By Nettacki

@mrplow8 said:

You know how people who don't smoke will sometimes say that they prefer the smoking section to the non-smoking section, because that's where all the cool people are? That's sort of how I feel about this topic. I don't necessarily agree with the things that the aforementioned Internet jerks say, but I find them to be much more tolerable than the people who think that Internet jerkaryis this huge problem that we all need to do something about. I put jerks on the Internet in the same category I would place a Justin Bieber song playing on the radio. Sure, it might be annoying, but ultimately it's not a big deal, and I'm probably not even going to think about it again for the rest of the day.

These people who talk about fighting online trolling and negative comments as if they're talking about fighting cancer are far more bothersome in my view. If there ever comes a point where the Internet has a jerk section and a non-jerk section, you'll find me hanging out in the jerk section.

Different people have different tolerances for different things. What's merely annoying for you is far more harmful for others, and much as I agree that sometimes the best thing to do is to tune out the haters, every so often the haters say or do something that really gets to you (general you). Furthermore, I'd like to think that the reason why you think this way is because you've never really experienced online trolling before, pointed directly to you rather than someone else (Note: I don't really know for sure, so correct me if I'm wrong); and the reason that people think otherwise is because they've experienced it firsthand, and it ain't pretty.

Nonetheless, some jerks have a point, just like many "anti-jerks" have a point as well. I make it a point to listen to the ones on both sides that have a point, and ignore the ones on both sides that complain for the sake of complaining.

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NotValeriusCato

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Thank you! I really appreciate your talking about this and your honesty about the mistakes we all make really lends a lot of credibility to your discussion. In an online game I usually feel the need to say something, since people just observing might take silence as tacit endorsement of hateful speech (many summers working at an inclusive summer program are responsible for that), and it makes it frustrating to just try to go have fun. Even when not trying to engage, just say a brief thing and move on, the "don't feed the trolls" people sometimes go on full attack mode. Very nice to have such smart articulate backup.

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michaelfossbakk

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Great panel.

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revel

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I think there is a flaw in accepting that the internet is an extension of our real life outside of it but that the fix exists within the internet itself. I believe that the best way to fix it is in real life and then it reflect within the internet.

There are different ways to go about this but one of the most hardcore ways I go about it is by ostracizing and ditching people who I know are these shitty people. You know who they are. You eventually pick up on people in your lives who are Womanizers, Assholes, Trolls, and Liars. The reason they survive is because of you. Your pacifism keeps them alive. For every one person like me who stops playing BF4 with them or won't go to lunch with them anymore there are 5 people willing to put up with their shit. This is not helping anything. If they can get away with being a punk in real life then they will get away with murder on the Internets.

It is not about feeding the trolls on the internet. It is about feeding the trolls outside of it.

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savepoint

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Excellent panel you guys. It definitely helped me realize that even though I may not be a negative person online, I am also not very vocal on being appreciative. So thank you and great job!

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Ooame

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Please live the no bully lifestyle.

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8bitBaldSpot

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Scoops is the man.Keep up the good work Patrick

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MarkWahlberg

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Edited By MarkWahlberg

Good panel!

I've made a few game/music video things the past year or so, just for fun and as editing practice. They get barely any views, because it's just me dicking around, but a little while ago I got the following comment on one of them:

No Caption Provided

Which is A) something that still makes me giggle, because what? And B) If this was masses of people commenting on something I did for a living/something personal, then... yeah. I'm not sure how I would even react.

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FunkyHugo

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Thanks, Patrick and Zoe. That was incredibly well articulated and informative. Keep being amazing people!

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Jam8o

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Keep fighting the good fight guys! Thanks for uploading this panel.

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xXHesekielXx

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Edited By xXHesekielXx
No Caption Provided

Thank you for this content Patrick and Zoe!

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1101101

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@fiercedeity: Being able to admit to and honestly apologise for mistakes and being open to criticism are all excellent virtues.

Of course, just never making any mistakes is even better than that – but not really a realistic goal for human beings to achieve.

So, yes, of course admitting mistakes and apologising is a great virtue to have, especially when so many people don’t seem to be able to.

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FierceDeity

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Edited By FierceDeity

I like how a year or two ago literally nobody knew who Zoe Quinn was and now she's everywhere with one fairly notable text-adventure thing under her belt. She seems insightful and cool, so I'm totally fine with it...just seems like her reputation as a game designer may be a little premature or overblown so it makes her perspective on those design-related things a little...odd. But for community/internet etiquette topics like this, I guess she's a perfect fit so that's great.

It's a similar phenomena to what happened with Anita. If a charismatic woman associated with video games gets publicly harassed, they become notable very quickly. As an FYI though, one of the forums that she claimed to have harassed her still vehemently denies having done so.

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FierceDeity

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@ajroo said:

Thats a great presentation Patrick. I saw you do the TedX version, but it had no less and possibly more impact this second time i experienced it. The humility shown in admitting the mistakes you've made during your own internet discourse gives you an extra level of credibility that makes the presentation more powerful. You arent just preaching, you are expounding wisdom from experience. That is the difference between telling, and teaching. A distinction that is founded on intent and comprehensible by all who were open to your message.

This is what i title your talk in my memory castle.

"Haters gonna hate.....dont be a hater" - by Patrick Klepek

Pass along my cheers and a big fuzzy "great job" to Zoe if you read this. Im always rooting for her.

Pretty absurd to twist his hypocrisy into some kind of virtue.

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Draxyle

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Edited By Draxyle

I'm fairly sure I've never been a jerk to anyone online, but sometimes I look at old posts of mine and come across something.. unnecessarily angry or harsh in tone; that's certainly not the legacy I want to leave behind, and I can only feel sorry for those that won't make any effort towards building a positive or constructive legacy for themselves.

The internet never forgets; you have to conduct yourself as if you might accidentally become famous at any minute.

Fantastic talk, Scoops and Zoe.

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Tennmuerti

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Edited By Tennmuerti

Daaaaumn, Patrick straight up killing it, truth bullet style!

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amishmonster

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Edited By amishmonster

Great talk, Patrick and Zoe! I appreciated the measured approach to things and that you actually had some ideas on how to improve the climate of the internet.

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Mezmero

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Name one time I've been an internet jerk to you Patrick. You can't because you're a poopyface McGee who only plays indie games based on anime. Just messing with ya Scoops though I have to admit that felt pretty damn good. I'm one of the few people who have avoided social media like the plague because I knew from the start that things would get this bad. Giant Bomb is sort of an exception because it's a site I actually believe in if my subscriber status is any indication.

I personally think things like Twitter are only useful for journalists who can network with news sources, celebrities and pseudo celebrities who want to bump their publicity, and people who worship said celebrities. In a weird way social media has become like the worst case scenario for human telepathy as a concept. It's like if Professor-X was being overloaded by stray thoughts but has the option to turn them off. I can tell you first hand that it's a struggle on a day to day basis to not be an internet jerk because a) it would be so easy and b) some people have it coming.

This panel was surprisingly interesting Patrick. Props to you and Ms. Quinn for bringing some of this stuff to light. I remember how much flak you were getting when you started at GB and I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to your work at 1up to know that you'd fit in just fine with this bunch of goofballs. I think some of the idiots from comicvine would benefit from watching this talk instead of trying to berate others for having different tastes in books. Some of those people are not only mean spirited but also really boring in their spite. Thanks again duder.

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mrplow8

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You know how people who don't smoke will sometimes say that they prefer the smoking section to the non-smoking section, because that's where all the cool people are? That's sort of how I feel about this topic. I don't necessarily agree with the things that the aforementioned Internet jerks say, but I find them to be much more tolerable than the people who think that Internet jerkaryis this huge problem that we all need to do something about. I put jerks on the Internet in the same category I would place a Justin Bieber song playing on the radio. Sure, it might be annoying, but ultimately it's not a big deal, and I'm probably not even going to think about it again for the rest of the day.

These people who talk about fighting online trolling and negative comments as if they're talking about fighting cancer are far more bothersome in my view. If there ever comes a point where the Internet has a jerk section and a non-jerk section, you'll find me hanging out in the jerk section.

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PD

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Great talk you guys. So, I work teaching/mentoring teenagers anywhere from the age of 14-19. I feel a lot of the shitty stuff on the internet starts from young people being horrible and not growing out of it because no one called them out on their shit. I see some of these kids doing this kind of stuff, and even sometimes doing it to their peers just trying to get a negative reaction from them.

That's usually where I step in and try to explain why that isn't cool, especially in the case of the older ones. I've even used some stuff Patrick has said as an example at one point. And I guess hearing it from someone who they not only respect as a mentor, but also see as someone they can relate to (I'm not too much older than they are. I'm 21) makes it stick a bit more. And I'm glad to see them toning it down and actually trying to have proper conversations about why someone disliking a game someone else likes is ok, or something similar.

So, I agree with Patrick's point, and I think it's a good place to start.