This weekend, a lot of fans have acted in a disappointing, mob-mentality manner. Fans, I’m sorry to say, on both sides.
A lot of good authors received Hugo award nominations on Saturday…after hard work and the support of many fans.
But two people crying “The sky is falling! Gamergate is coming!” ruined it for a great many people.
The idea came into people’s heads that the Hugos had been hijacked and the nominations were illegitimate—people who did not bother looking into how the Sad Puppies campaign was run. (There was even a libelous—quickly retracted—Entertainment Weekly article based on some of this false information. EW had to issue a lengthy apology.)
Folks, it is true that more fans chose this year’s winners than any other year. But the difference between this year and last year was: 199.
Yep. 199 more fans signed up.
Not really an attack by the galloping hordes.
For this…199 new votes this year…people are calling to vote No Award, rather than read the works and pick the one you find the best.
What is this, folks? Elementary school?
So why did people say that Gamergate swung the vote?
Because one—note the word ONE—longtime fan is a Gamergate guy, too, and wrote a tweet calling on friends to support his favorite authors.
This gentleman, who goes by the name of Daddy Warpig, left this in the comments a post about the EW article:
Daddy Warpig commented on Entertainment Weekly guilty of libel?
BRAD: A letter I sent to the editors of Entertainment Weekly. To whom it may concern, I am writing to point out some …
As the shining, guilt-proving link between #GamerGate and Sad Puppies (according to Patrick Nielsen Hayden and followers):
1 – I only nominated works I read.
2 – I didn’t nominate Sad Puppies works I had read, because I didn’t believe they deserved it.
3 – I nominated other works I felt deserved it, which didn’t make it.
I’m glad I participated, and I’m looking forward to participating next year.
Also, I’m a nobody, who had nothing to do with Sad Puppies except sending out some tweets and joining Sasquan. PNH used my tweets to defame everyone in Sad Puppies. That’s despicable.
The people of Sad Puppies won a victory. #GamerGate had little or nothing to do with it.
Evidence: pic.twitter.com/ilZQ2x8LLu
Congrats, and good luck beating No Award!
For this, you kicked your friends when they were vulnerable?
And the Puppy fans, alas, were hardly better. For every Hugo nomination receiver I know who was attacked, I know an innocent Liberal fan who was ravaged by Puppy supporters.
Yesterday was a sad day for fluffy baby animals of all varieties.
