At least it’s noted that witch hunts are consistently bad


Yeah, you’ve probably already read Rebecca Watson’s letter to victims of witch hunts. It’s tragically amusing.

Although, if we’re looking for approximations to Witchfinder General, I think 4chan would have to be cast in the Vincent Price role, with Zoe Quinn as his target.

Comments

  1. says

    I don’t think Dawkins is opposed to witch hunts in the slightest. Besides vague generalities, he hasn’t condemned the abuse of people like Rebecca Watson, and has tacitly encouraged it.

  2. bargearse says

    I read that earlier today and had people at work wondering what I was giggling at. The thing that impressed me the most was that she had the patience to wait three years. Something about revenge and serving cold dishes comes to mind.

  3. mmLilje says

    If ever there was a grave disservice done to the memory of Vincent Price, comparing him to 4chan would be it.

  4. 2kittehs says

    I read Rebecca Watson’s letter earlier today. Perfect, just perfect.

    Moggie @4

    Look at that. I think Rebecca Watson just turned Dawkins into a newt.

    But he’s never going to get better.

  5. embertine says

    The “Dear Muslim” one about someone stealing his honey was my personal favourite, but this is pretty good.

  6. Matthew Trevor says

    Apparently 4chan is now deleting threads and banning posters which mention any aspect of the gamergate fiasco. It seems that even 4chan is now sick of this shit.

    Speaking of witch hunts, there’s an amazingly idiotic article that has “exposed” an astounding “conspiracy”: a number of game journalists discuss aspects of their industry among each other on a private Google Group. There’s serious discussion in the comments of informing the FBI as this is apparently “racketeering”.

  7. vaiyt says

    It seems that even 4chan is now sick of this shit.

    Or rather, they want to cover their tracks after they were exposed for the hacks they are.

  8. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    @vaiyt, #16:

    Oh, yeah. I think that’s much more likely than being sick of attacking Zoë.

  9. Matthew Trevor says

    You’re all no doubt right. Quinn’s submission to the FBI of the 4chan logs probably had a lot to do with their reaction.

    On the somewhat-dubious-plus side, I’ve now seen some of the helpful pro-conspiracy infographics have added “4chan mods” to the list of people Quinn has allegedly slept with, which hopefully will push more people to realise how batshit fucking crazy this whole thing is.

  10. flatlander100 says

    Just read Ms. Watson’s “letter.” I didn’t find it particularly effective, or amusing (in a get-back-at way). On the whole, it struck me as, well, sophomoric. Ms. Watson has written some fine pieces. This is not one of them.

  11. Ichthyic says

    Just read Ms. Watson’s “letter.” I didn’t find it particularly effective, or amusing (in a get-back-at way). On the whole, it struck me as, well, sophomoric. Ms. Watson has written some fine pieces. This is not one of them.

    “We are not amused.”

    Thankyou, Queen Victoria.

  12. 2kittehs says

    OT

    Victoria probably never said that. She herself denied it when asked by her granddaugher the Countess of Athlone, and the stories of when she’s supposed to have said it vary a lot. I’d take her word for it – especially since she frequently was amused.

    /OT

  13. EnlightenmentLiberal says

    Apparently 4chan is now deleting threads and banning posters which mention any aspect of the gamergate fiasco. It seems that even 4chan is now sick of this shit.

    Or rather, they want to cover their tracks after they were exposed for the hacks they are.

    Oh, yeah. I think that’s much more likely than being sick of attacking Zoë.

    FYI: The moderation on 4chan is notoriously random. The moderation team sometimes bans someone just because they think it would be funny. Further, the moderation team is very diverse – aka not of the same mind. Depending on time of day or day of week, you might get a completely different mod with completely different priorities. The mod very likely isn’t banning people “to cover 4chan’s tracks”. It’s very likely it was done because the mod thought it would be funny, or was just sick and tired of reading the same shit over and over on this particular topic. In short – the moderation on 4chan has no standards or rules, and whatever moderation does happen is completely at the moderator’s whim – when they can be bothered to do something about it.