For gamers, combating online abuse not easy

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

For gamers, combating online abuse not easy

Added: 01.09.2014 12:12 | 8 views | 0 comments

While most attendees of Penny Arcade Expo come to the boisterous convention to play games, bag swag and meet like-minded people, a few take the time to investigate online bullying and why it's so prevalent among the gaming community. Therapist Stacey Weber, herself a gamer, is a bit mystified. "It just doesn't make sense," said Weber, who was part of a Saturday talk at PAX Prime called "Not Us, Not Here: Examining Bullying, Harassment and Misogyny." "When we pick up our games, we delve into these whole new worlds where there's a multitude of various species and ways of being," Weber said. "Difference is the norm, so how come this community seems so intolerant of difference?" The discussion at the four-day, sold-out convention, which ends Monday and is expected to draw about 85,000 gamers, follows a week of several reports of online harassment of developers and personalities in the gaming community.