Thank you for posting. This pattern has echoed across the internet. I've seen similar results on GameFAQs, Gamespot boards, N4G, countless subreddits no matter the topic, and of course on Twitter and Facebook.
It's almost as if the infiltration into nerd hobbies (gaming, comics) and the out-of-character eradication of Gamergate (even on places like 4chan) was a vanguard effort for a political ideology... It's almost as if some folks have been pointing this out for years (usually shouted down shortly thereafter).
I do agree ERA is following in those same footsteps, including an eventual switch to certain threads, certain boards, or even the entire ResetERA forum going "member viewable only" like it did on accident (wink) a few months ago. They cannot tolerate dissent. They cannot tolerate outside voices, not even inquisitive ones. They cannot tolerate a light being shone on their mistakes or hypocrisy.
Your observation of it all being due to "unfiltered narcissism" is entirely correct. The internet has given rise to it and society will suffer the impact for years to come. The ability to throw out a sentence or two and have millions of people hang on your words is unprecedented for most humans throughout most of history. Before it was only kings and religious leaders. Now it's whoever gains enough notoriety on Twitter. There's gotta be some psychological damage (bordering on brain-damage) going on here.
I think one of the critical points to take away from all of this is how easy it is to manipulate people if you just take advantage of their desire to be a good person.
Most people probably want to be good people. There are certain things that you do that I think most of us can probably agree makes you a "good person" in some capacity.
But what happens if someone shows up and tells you that if you don't do this or if you don't stop saying this you're not a good person anymore?
Words like racism, sexism, and transphobia for example are things we generally file away under the "bad person" label. If someone calls you these things you'll naturally feel bad because they are telling you that you are not a good person anymore.
The problem is that these people are able to convince others that they are bad people, but don't worry, they have the cure! Just do whatever they tell you without question (because only bigots and transphobes question things) and you'll be back on track to being a good person.
They manage to convince others that they're bad, which leads to the downward spiral as the accused, desperate to regain their title (that they never actually lost) continue to give in to every demand, desire and whim in order to appease those they now consider accurate judges of their character. In the end, as we've seen with both Resetera and SomethingAwful that it's never enough.
The demands only increase in volume and intensity. The ultimate fate it seems is to be devoured by those you try to appease for their hunger seems endless.
It's possible that Lowtax might have been able to avert this issue entirely if he didn't give in. Perhaps instead of giving certain members special privileges and protections based on oppression status he instead treated everyone the same like how forums used to things might be different, but that's just my speculation.
It has always been my belief that on a forum the only thing that matters is how you conduct yourself. What you are shouldn't matter in the slightest. You shouldn't be given special privileges for something that has no bearing on your conduct online. What we're seeing here is what happens when you throw that idea away, and allow people to do whatever they want as long as they have the required set of characteristics.
www.resetera.com
