Video Game News Subreddit Closes For 24 Hours To Protest Bigotry [Updated]
By Alex Chen | January 01, 0001
Last night, /r/Games, a subreddit with 1.7 million subscribers, announced it would be closing on April Fool’s Day to shed light on w69 เข้าสู่ระบบ the bigotry in the online gaming community. “Not April Fool’s,” the post begins. It continues: “This April Fool’s, we decided to take things a little more seriously and shed some light on a growing, pervasive issue that has affected the community of r/Games and gaming communities as a whole…Though certain memes (such as “gamers rise up”) surrounding gaming are largely viewed as a humorous interpretation of a mindset, at the core of the humor is a set of very serious issues that affect all gaming enthusiasts. By showing disdain or outright rejecting minority and h25 com สล็อต marginalized communities, we become more insular. In this, we lose out on the chance to not only show compassion to these people, but also the chance to grow our own community and diversify the demographics of those involved in it. Whether it’s misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, racism or a host of other discriminatory practices, now is the time to stymie the flow of regressive ideas and prevent them from ever becoming the norm.” At the end of the post, after noting that bigoted language in /r/Games is “not an infrequent occurrence” and citing several instances of transphobia, homophobia, islamophobia, and misogyny, the moderators call on users to celebrate the diversity of others’ backgrounds. Then, listing several charities for LGBT+ individuals, people of color, and women, the moderators say, “this April Fool’s, we’re also asking you to take into consideration the idea of helping these organizations out.” There is a lot of support for the subreddit’s move on Twitter and gaming forums like ResetEra.com. One user acknowledged that “I am not a fan of that subreddit but I am really impressed that they took a stand like this.” On Twitter, one user said, “And this day filled with jokes, its [sic] nice to see something serious and heartwarming.” Others reacted negatively, referring to the move as “virtue signaling” or“going full blue pilled and cringe.”cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"e3616d04-4972-4839-a63a-c6975e2e9731","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.kotaku.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"1833715872","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"uncategorized","SECTION":"","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"uncategorized","TAGS":"","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); Kotaku reached out to the /r/Games moderators last night asking them to explain their decision, the timing of the post, and whether they’ve reflected on how their own moderation tactics played into the subreddit’s culture. One moderator responded to say that “This is not something we have done for publicity. We believe the post itself presents the combined thoughts of the moderator team and we have no further comment at this time.” They added that moderators will be answering the community’s questions in a meta thread this evening. The subreddit remains closed as of this