I’m writing this quick post based on a comment that some rando attempted to put on my website. (To the best of my knowledge, the person is not on Medium.) My website is set to automatically hold back comments from randos, until and unless I approve them.
For context, I am in the midst of fighting off a sinus infection. I’ve been on antibiotics for days. The antibiotics make me super sleepy. I have very limited energy right now.
The rando — let’s call him “Fred” — went through my website in order to find a post that included a video of my gameplay of one of Blizzard’s games.
This particular video was posted not long after Activision Blizzard was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and potential violations of the state’s equal pay law. (NPR)
The situation left many people who played games made by Activision Blizzard, and/or who made podcasts about them, in a difficult situation. What to do? Long story short, the workers made it clear that they wanted people to continue playing Blizzard’s games. I decided to comply with their request.
The gameplay video that “Fred” sought out started with me explaining that I had decided to continue playing this particular Blizzard game because the workers wanted people to do that. I briefly mentioned the lawsuit, and then started playing the game.
“Fred” attempted to leave the following comment:
Of course you’d mention the lawsuit can I just play my favorite game without all this millennial and gen z drama I’m ashamed to be apart [sic] of this generation nobody cares about this lawsuit I’m tired of hearing about how do people know these women aunt [sic] lying like they do to celebrities
This is a very good example of how NOT to write a comment — especially if you intended that comment to appear on someone else’s website. “Fred’s” comment is going into the trash as soon as I post this. It will never appear on my website.
Out of curiosity, I looked for “Fred” on Twitter. His account name (and part of his email address) that he included when trying to post his toxic comment on my website matched his Twitter account. His Twitter account has the default avatar and no banner. “Fred” spends a lot of time on Twitter harassing women.
For context — It appears “Fred” assumed that I’m a woman, and therefore felt the need to harass me on my website. This, despite the brightly colored mask I’m wearing in my photo that is of the non-binary flag. “Fred” also assumes that I’m either part of the millennial or gen z generations. I’m generation X, and have been playing Blizzard’s games since the 1990s.
The moral of this story is: Don’t be like “Fred”.