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Bluetracker

Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

1/15 My take on women’s representation in gaming. This thread is operating under the belief that all genders inherently have the same capacity to excel in gaming & that the current disparity comes from external factors. If you disagree with that, pls just keep scrolling.

1/15 My take on women’s representation in gaming. This thread is operating under the belief that all genders inherently have the same capacity to excel in gaming & that the current disparity comes from external factors. If you disagree with that, pls just keep scrolling.

  • jiadee_
    Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
    1/15 My take on women’s representation in gaming. This thread is operating under the belief that all genders inherently have the same capacity to excel in gaming & that the current disparity comes from external factors. If you disagree with that, pls just keep scrolling.

    • jiadee_
      Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
      2/ I think a lot of misunderstanding on the topic of representation comes from whether you see it as an end goal OR a solution to a problem hindering an end goal. I see it as the latter, the end goal being what (I hope) we all want: equal opportunity in all spaces within gaming.

      • jiadee_
        Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
        3/ The problem is toxicity toward women. This is my umbrella term for the verbal abuse & belittlement women receive on the basis of sex that men only get on the basis of skill, if at all. It also includes the sexual harassment we’re disproportionately subjected to. Better exp: https://t.co/fYplCrO2MX

        • jiadee_
          Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
          4/ That toxicity is a small part of a much broader sexism present in most societies, but I’ll only focus on how it manifests in gaming spaces. This is how I see the negative feedback cycle in my head. (Prob even more negative effects I didn’t cover, sorry) https://t.co/3SS1hPywbp

          • jiadee_
            Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
            5/ The central problem 1 leads to symptoms 2-4. In a perfect world anybody would feel welcome in any community they like. Hell if I know if a perfect world would actually have a 50-50 split, but to me that’s not important. The problem is whether it’s 50% or 10% of all women

            • jiadee_
              Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
              6/ who’d potentially want to join a gaming space (esports, streaming, game dev, etc), if any of them face unpunished toxicity, then it’s not equal opportunity. Plenty of talented women have left games bc of this, and who knows how many more were too discouraged to even start.

              • jiadee_
                Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                7/ It’s just so vicious. Toxicity also discourages the men that do believe in gender equality [3], which makes us feel like no one cares. Fewer women [2a] means fewer women who outperform men [2b], which then fuels the narrative of [1] that women are naturally worse at games.

                • jiadee_
                  Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                  8/ How do you fix toxicity? We’ve been trying for decades and the pace of improvement has been abysmal. While better moderation and swifter bans help a bit, imo it takes an entire shift in culture. How do you change a culture? Representation. [2a] https://t.co/fwedMekW0G

                  • jiadee_
                    Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                    9/ Seeing someone like yourself kick ass does wonders for those looking to join the scene. But even more than that, giving a platform to people actively fighting toxicity rather than staying quiet bc status quo is convenient for them, is simply the right thing to do.

                    • jiadee_
                      Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                      10/ Sexists feel like they can get away with what they do and say because they think they’re majority; or that the majority don’t care enough to call them out. When you make the very people they put down visible, you send the message that it’s sexists that are unwelcome.

                      • jiadee_
                        Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                        11/ Now, I get that it feels counterintuitive to the end goal of equal opportunity to advocate specific inclusions with gender in mind. I concede that this is an imperfect solution, but the only other alternative I hear being proposed is “wait for things to organically improve”.

                        • jiadee_
                          Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                          12/ And to that I ask, how long? We literally had a woman world champion in Hearthstone, and people still won’t shut up about how women less logical or competitive than men. Dunno about you but if there’s something we can do about that now, I think we should.

                          • jiadee_
                            Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                            13/ So now, exactly how much is “more” representation? What is enough could mean 20% to someone, 50% to another. It’s the kind of question we can’t answer w/o empirical data but there’s nothing to go off of, so why not at least try different numbers & compare response?

                            • jiadee_
                              Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                              14/ While we don’t have that kind of info yet, I think it helps to reflect. How many women need to be in your discord server before you kick the guy calling them thots? How many more women need to be in your chat before you ban the guy telling them to go back to the kitchen?

                              • jiadee_
                                Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                15/15 How many more women need to be on your Twitter feed recalling their worst experiences before you truly start to hold your friends accountable? It’s probably different for everyone, and it *shouldn’t* take this much. But it does, so here’s one more.

                                • Iksar
                                  Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                  @jiadee_ The most excellent thread, thank you for writing it. I promise to be an advocate, especially in the spaces I have influence. Completely agree with every word.

                                  • Chadd Nervigg
                                    Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                    @IksarHS @jiadee_ Same.

                                  • JohnnyD13102328
                                    Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                    @IksarHS @jiadee_ so @Celestalon @IksarHS u rlly need to be mindful of ur community... they dont like it when this kind of stuff is shoved down their throat, they just wanna play game dont forget that..

                                    • claus_maack
                                      Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                      @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ @Celestalon Excuse me, but what the fuck are you talking about? How is letting women play a fair share of the community "shoving down" anyone's throat? This comment is so bigoted I can't even comprehend.

                                      • JohnnyD13102328
                                        Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                        @claus_maack @IksarHS @jiadee_ @Celestalon twitter full of moody little men who don't know how to man up... raised by single mom's and indoctrinated from birth to be the simp army for championing women privilege go outside and get some sun, son

                                        • claus_maack
                                          Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                          @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ @Celestalon You are clearly an internet troll, so you are not deserving of any more of my attention.

                                          • Chadd Nervigg
                                            Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                            @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ ProTip: Accounts named @SomeName12345678 with no picture are trolls.

                                            • claus_maack
                                              Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                              @Celestalon @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ Thanks. This was my first encounter, but I have now learned my lesson. Though I will admit, troll or no, his comment was infuriating, I felt I had to say something.

                                              • Chadd Nervigg
                                                Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ That was their goal.

                                            • charlieplante80
                                              Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                              @Celestalon @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ Same goes for Hearthstone accounts. Unfortunately we can’t report those.....still.

                                              • Chadd Nervigg
                                                Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                @charlieplante80 @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ You can, in the https://t.co/UhNBkhRo8g client.

                                                • Opaldiia
                                                  Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                  @Celestalon @charlieplante80 @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ since when?

                                                  • Chadd Nervigg
                                                    Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                    @Opaldiia @charlieplante80 @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ I believe the 2.0 client middle of last year?

                                                    • Opaldiia
                                                      Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                      @Celestalon @charlieplante80 @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ hm, still think the game could use an in-game report feature. for players that are obvious bots and for other uses as well obviously

                                                      • Chadd Nervigg
                                                        Posted 4 years, 10 months ago (Source)
                                                        @Opaldiia @charlieplante80 @claus_maack @JohnnyD13102328 @IksarHS @jiadee_ I don't disagree, it's just a matter of priorities.
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