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[diaspora]

I think it would depend on the content of that press release.

It wouldn't matter I think either way. These aren't things you change just by what other company chooses to say. Incidentally I'm not sure why the focus isn't on the vector of harassment, Twitter. Nintendo should have made a statement, but anyone genuinely wanting to affect change ought to be looking at the people holding the platform for harassment and doxxing.

We've seen it before. Company A releases statement on social issue, public pressure mounts for Company B to have a stance as well.

The company that I work for barely has a public face at all and we still do internal policy reviews based on information gleaned from our competitors.

Working in telecommunications, I cannot possibly see this being even remotely realiatic.

 

[LudicrousSpeed]

Exactly.

Nintendo's 72 annual shareholder's meeting

(the meeting where shareholders can ask questions and the company president, in this case Iwata, has to answer them)


You are objectively wrong about them.

Edit: Sorry for going off topic here, but the post had to be corrected.

I'm going to have to ask you elaborate further. How exactly do you think that disproves what I'm saying?

Nintendo's shifted some in later years, but their marketing with the NES is basically the genesis of the "Video Games are for boys" mentality. Did you actually read the article I linked?

 

[Valkyr1983]

Every time there is a semblance of drama in politics, entertainment industries and many smaller circles, people just rush to social media accounts to find something to use as a 'gotcha' moment.
It's downright shitty, but nowhere near unique to the game industry and women.
Everyone is a target.
It's paparazzi culture, only now there is little need for a middleman.

How it shitty?

Don't make controversial statements about subjects like that in a public forum and you have nothing to worry about

I'm 32 years old and have never lost a job due to something like this, because I keep my social media clean and safe of politics or social issues that some might find offensive

Sure, I might not have a voice about something but that's the cost of working in corporate America

She's free to start her own business and then be on twitter talking about stuff like child porn etc

 

[Brakke]

Nintendo won't hire her back. They've made their decision. They'll look weak if they do.

I don't buy anything from WEAK companies.

Good Donald Trump impression tbh.

 

[Celtic]

According to Allison, within a month of being employed at Nintendo, they asked her to stop tweeting on controversial topics such as rape culture. She's been employed there for years, and some of her last tweets regarding decriminalized CP are as recent as 6 months ago. She has never shied away from discussing her opinions, however controversial some of them may be,

You work PR for a company. They ask you not to discuss something controversial. You continue discussing these controversial things... it's going to cause issues.

The specifics of her second job have been discussed before on other boards and forums. I wouldn't want to mention it in this thread, due to the fact that it is obviously something she doesn't want to mention in this context, so it's not my place to mention it, etc.

But if you had told me that a random person (guy or girl) was moonlighting with a certain job, and Nintendo chose to let them go instead of keeping them on as PR, I wouldn't even be a little surprised. Image matters heavily to a major corporation.

If a corporation has anti-drinking values, and one of their PR members has a job selling or advertising alcohol, the corp will probably decide to let that one go.

NOTE: Just pointing out that some jobs DO blatantly disagree with others, and it's not odd to be fired from one job for holding another that completely disregards the first's image.

The frustrating part is HOW Nintendo got the information. It sucks that it was something that she tried very hard to keep away from her professional life (as she mentions using alias to do so) and it was brought up due to people being assholes and wanting to ruin someone's life.

Do I fully agree with Alison and her views on things? No. In fact, I disagree with a lot of things she says (almost everything, actually. We don't share similar views, suffice it to say.)... but I do think it sucks that a random person on the internet can decide they don't like you, and call your place of business to give them info to get you canned.

I don't blame Nintendo for terminating employment, it makes a lot of sense with all the information laid out.

I guess the only side I'm taking is: "The internet is an asshole."

 

[marrec]

It wouldn't matter I think either way. These aren't things you change just by what other company chooses to say. Incidentally I'm not sure why the focus isn't on the vector of harassment, Twitter. Nintendo should have made a statement, but anyone genuinely wanting to affect change ought to be looking at the people holding the platform for harassment and doxxing.

It depends on how you want to try to deal with the "problem" of this harassment. I believe the problem is systemic to video gaming culture and has been nurtured and cultivated over the last 30 years by shitty public policy, media communications, and marketing by companies in the industry.

I think these companies should do more to try and reverse the direction they purposefully steered the industry into. Removing a vector of harassment isn't going to make the harassment go away.

 

[Kimawolf]

Well said. Harassment takes place on Twitter, but no one calls to leave Twitter in a mass exodus. Twitter has made it clear that they tolerate such behavior. Facebook as well.

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what else will they do?

the problem is facebook and twitter. but again you can bet your ass Jim Sterling and all the others will be on twitter tomorrow tweeting and checking their FB statuses. wont be any boycott there because that will hit the bottom line.

they make some generic statement, rile up the mob and move on. how about getting those "millions" of followers to log out for a day from twitter or shut down their fb pages? no?

 

[Bright]

Good Donald Trump impression tbh.

If Trump shares my thoughts on Nintendo then I know who I'M voting for this June.

 

[weekev]

There is literally no reason for me to reasonably believe this as being even close to being plausible.

Would you care to explain why? GG is a blight on the industry, surely any big corporation is gonna be happy to see the back of them.

 

[diaspora]

It depends on how you want to try to deal with the "problem" of this harassment. I believe the problem is systemic to video gaming culture and has been nurtured and cultivated over the last 30 years by shitty public policy, media communications, and marketing by companies in the industry.

I think these companies should do more to try and reverse the direction they purposefully steered the industry into. Removing a vector of harassment isn't going to make the harassment go away.

I don't think anything will make the problem go away in any sort of permanent sense. I do think social media platforms adopting stricter- hell, GAF-like punishing restrictions to harassment would affect strong change.

Would you care to explain why? GG is a blight on the industry, surely any big corporation is gonna be happy to see the back of them.

Because the empowerment of GG isn't from what companies are willing to make press releases for, but the willingness of social media platforms to allow harassment as acceptable use of their platforms.

 

[Kinsei]

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what elss will they do?

the problem is facebook and twitter. but again you can bet your ass Jim Sterlimg and all the others will be on twitter tomorrow tweeting and checking their FB statuses. wont be any boycott there because that will hit the bottom line.

they make some generic statement, rile up the mob and move on. how about getting those "millions" of followers to log out for a day from twitter or shut down their fb pages? no?

Twitter and Facebook are certainly not the whole problem. The game companies share just as much of the blame for cultivating this audience and not speaking out against them until they are backed into a corner. That is if you can even call a canned PR response speaking out. This has existed before Facebook and Twitter and it would continue if both of them suddenly disappeared tomorrow.

 

[Mr. Sam]

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what else will they do?

They can not fire their employees who are targeted by said harassment.

 

[Gestault]

Nintendo won't hire her back. They've made their decision. They'll look weak if they do.

I don't buy anything from WEAK companies.

This comment is so strange.

 

[TheWorst]

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what else will they do?

the problem is facebook and twitter. but again you can bet your ass Jim Sterling and all the others will be on twitter tomorrow tweeting and checking their FB statuses. wont be any boycott there because that will hit the bottom line.

they make some generic statement, rile up the mob and move on. how about getting those "millions" of followers to log out for a day from twitter or shut down their fb pages? no?

I don't see how boycotting social media helps anything. Twitter and FB absolutely need to crack down on harassment, but their platforms can also be used to effectively spread the word about issues like this. That said, we definitely need a consistent push for change in this industry. Sadly, I'm afraid that this situation will be almost entirely forgotten in a week's time, if not sooner. That can't keep happening. Don't let Nintendo get away with this.

 

[jmizzal]

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what else will they do?

the problem is facebook and twitter. but again you can bet your ass Jim Sterling and all the others will be on twitter tomorrow tweeting and checking their FB statuses. wont be any boycott there because that will hit the bottom line.

they make some generic statement, rile up the mob and move on. how about getting those "millions" of followers to log out for a day from twitter or shut down their fb pages? no?

This is kinda like what I said in the other thread, people all ways pick and choose who they want to boycott, if your gonna boycott one company for one thing then how bout boycotting these other big companies who have bad practices and evil past with way worst offenses. But they wont, they will still eat at the same place and buy clothes and tech and bank from those places.

 

[marrec]

I don't think anything will make the problem go away in any sort of permanent sense. I do think social media platforms adopting stricter- hell, GAF-like punishing restrictions to harassment would affect strong change.

I agree, though a GAF-like moderation would be impossibly expensive, I just think as consumers of video games our focus should be on the companies we help support.

Of course, we can advocate for both at the same time. I don't believe in this case, if Twitter had some super strict policy, that Rapp would have been free from harassment.

This comment is so strange.

It's a joke, at least I assumed, I laughed.

They're being cheeky is all.

 

[RMI]

Any ideas as to what the other job was?

Moonlighting always sounds like something seedy to me.

it's unclear, but if it were completely innocuous it seems like she would have mentioned what it was.

Nintendo probably did have a good reason to fire her based on this job, and if it were a lower profile employee they wouldn't have had to issue a statement, but in this case they needed to in order to say that the firing is not related to the GG campaign against her.

The idea that she is pro-child pornography is pretty ridiculous, but I'm not surprised that people have come to very hastily made and obviously emotional conclusions based on a few tweets. It's impossible to avoid those kinds of reactions with such a sensitive subject.

 

[diaspora]

I agree, though a GAF-like moderation would be impossibly expensive, I just think as consumers of video games our focus should be on the companies we help support.

Of course, we can advocate for both at the same time. I don't believe in this case, if Twitter had some super strict policy, that Rapp would have been free from harassment.

If Twitter was openly and brazenly banning people supporting GG I think they would have been far less effectual. I've already made it clear I think Nintendo ought to have made a statement if only in solidarity with Rapp, but change comes from social media companies that allow this behavior on their platforms.

 

[weekev]

I don't think anything will make the problem go away in any sort of permanent sense. I do think social media platforms adopting stricter- hell, GAF-like punishing restrictions to harassment would affect strong change.

Because the empowerment of GG isn't from what companies are willing to make press releases for, but the willingness of social media platforms to allow harassment as acceptable use of their platforms.

Right but what's more likely? A company standing up to these assholes and making a stand or Twitter and Facebook suddenly being moderated, risking folks saying they are being censored.

 

[Bright]

This comment is so strange.

My grandfather taught me to never back down. A company that backs down is un-American, and weak.

They've made their decision. They have to stick by it.

 

[diaspora]

Right but what's more likely? A company standing up to these assholes and making a stand or Twitter and Facebook suddenly being moderated, risking folks saying they are being censored.

Obviously doing something that changes nothing would be more likely than doing something that would.

 

[Kamina777]

Next Nintendo should put out a statement denouncing the kkk and Isis, because things that are clearly and obviously negative and bad for everyone involved while hiding behind anonymity obviously needs more attention brought to it in order to make it go away like roaches to when the lights go on..


If by Nintendo not mentioning it in a statement about why she was fired, you feel they somehow condone and okay harrasment that happens on an employess personal twitter account, we are living in two different realities.

 

[SturokBGD]

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

Social media isn't the problem, it's just an outlet. The problem is way deeper and has existed for much longer than the internet as we know it.

Gamergate is just the monster that the video game industry spent 40 years creating.

Education is critical. Proactively foster and promote an environment of inclusiveness and change will come.

 

[GatticusFinch]

Are we allowed to post what the alleged second job supposedly is? If what I am seeing elsewhere is accurate, no wonder they fired her, and it has nothing to do with GG and even nothing to do with child porn.

 

[blankempathy]

If by Nintendo not mentioning it in a statement about why she was fired, you feel they somehow condone and okay harrasment that happens on an employess personal twitter account, we are living in two different realities.

This happens all the time. So many conversations online where if I try to look at both sides and flat out don't condone one side or the other people love to assume I'm pro that side. People love making assumptions.

 

[Kamina777]

Are we allowed to post what the alleged second job supposedly is? If what I am seeing elsewhere is accurate, no wonder they fired her.

No because as far as the narrative that people want to stick with is concerned, it doesn't matter, plus, gamergate.

 

[diaspora]

Social media isn't the problem, it's just an outlet. The problem is way deeper and has existed for much longer than the internet as we know it.

Gamergate is just the monster that the video game industry spent 40 years creating.

Education is critical. Proactively foster and promote an environment of inclusiveness and change will come.

Social media policies are absolutely part of the problem. Having punishing rules with regards to harassment and discrimination would I think at least act as a means to display to anyone using these platforms that shitty behaviour doesn't fly.

 

[Kamina777]

well that's the thing that bothers me. Facebook and Twitter are companies. they are allowing it. so instead of Jim sterling and patrick and WoW guy going at the source of the problem they go to Nintendo like they control anything.

they dont. all they can say is,harassment is wrong. what else will they do?

the problem is facebook and twitter. but again you can bet your ass Jim Sterling and all the others will be on twitter tomorrow tweeting and checking their FB statuses. wont be any boycott there because that will hit the bottom line.

they make some generic statement, rile up the mob and move on. how about getting those "millions" of followers to log out for a day from twitter or shut down their fb pages? no?

Marvelous post.

 

[TheWorst]

Are we allowed to post what the alleged second job supposedly is? If what I am seeing elsewhere is accurate, no wonder they fired her, and it has nothing to do with GG and even nothing to do with child porn.

Is it something illegal? If not, then I can't see why it would matter. She was working under a pseudonym and clearly distanced it from social media and her other job. GG exposed what should have been her private business, so it absolutely has to do with them.

 

[James Scott]

While originally it seemed like one of the two was lying, it does seem that Alison's clarification...er-clarified the situation.
Seems like GG is responsible but mostly for pointing out something that was against company policy and let her go.
Is that right or did I misread?

 

[EatinOlives]

GG definitely "wins" this one, and it doesn't seem like Nintendo gives that much of a shit about what kind of message it sends. At the end of the day Alison is right; Nintendo wouldn't have scrutinized her past and her moonlighting had the GG smear campaign never existed. So even if Nintendo did conduct the firing in a way that is consistent with their internal policies, the fact of the matter is that GG was an influential force in this, which sends a horrible message to all parties.

Good Donald Trump impression tbh.

He forgot to drop "Sad!" somewhere in there.

No because as far as the narrative that people want to stick with is concerned, it doesn't matter, plus, gamergate.

This is a silly stance. Things don't happen in a vacuum, and while obviously the moonlighting may be disagreeable from Nintendo's standpoint, the fact that they didn't look at this until GG got involved sends a horrible message. Not to mention she took steps from distancing herself from that job with a pseudonym precisely for that reason.

 

[Jakoo]

How it shitty?

Don't make controversial statements about subjects like that in a public forum and you have nothing to worry about

I'm 32 years old and have never lost a job due to something like this, because I keep my social media clean and safe of politics or social issues that some might find offensive

Sure, I might not have a voice about something but that's the cost of working in corporate America

She's free to start her own business and then be on twitter talking about stuff like child porn etc

Uh, I mean, it was her thesis paper, which I'm not sure is in the same ball park of what you are describing. If she was making un-nuanced tweets about the topic during a Treehouse event, that is one thing, but to publish a (presumably) peer-reviewed and well researched item about a topic, even a controversial one, as a part of your studies and then be held to task for it years later is much more troubling.

 

[SturokBGD]

Next Nintendo should put out a statement denouncing the kkk and Isis, because things that are clearly and obviously negative and bad for everyone involved while hiding behind anonymity obviously needs more attention brought to it in order to make it go away like roaches to when the lights go on.

I can't say I've ever been scared of ISIS or the KKK while my daughter plays video games. I can however say that I've been seriously concerned about her crossing paths with people who are quite possibly just like you.

Social media policies are absolutely part of the problem. Having punishing rules with regards to harassment and discrimination would I think at least act as a means to display to anyone using these platforms that shitty behaviour doesn't fly.

Fair enough. What I mean is that people are shitty before they even get to Twitter.

 

[weekev]

Obviously doing something that changes nothing would be more likely than doing something that would.

Maybe they could do both. Company makes a public stand on the hatred and harassment levelled at employee, puts pressure on platform holder to take action and report this to police as I believe technically it's a crime to incite hatred towards an individual. Publicly outing them results in their arrest and the folks getting harassed get put in a positive light, effectively having the opposite effect of what GG is trying to achieve.

Too naive?

 

[Lime]

Marvelous post.

No it's not, it completey obscures the issue by moving it to another party. It's a bullshit point that takes away focus from the damage that Nintendo has done. Twitter and Facebook weren't silent while Rapp was harassed nor are they responsible for firing Rapp. Nintendo is responsible.

There are so many articles and arguments supporting and highlighting why Nintendo fucked up. From diplomatic rhetoric to radical arguments, everything is there in the open for you and others to acknowledge that Nintendo severely fucked up, yet people still want to defend a company that basically did the textbook case of the games industry throwing women under the bus in order to maintain the sexist status quo and appease a misogynistic neo-nazi segment of gaming culture and society.

But I give up, because the misogyny and victim-blaming displayed in this thread is the same mechanisms seen years ago with the other victims and martyrs of video game harassment of women and other intersecting oppressed groups

 

[Bright]

Social media policies are absolutely part of the problem. Having punishing rules with regards to harassment and discrimination would I think at least act as a means to display to anyone using these platforms that shitty behaviour doesn't fly.

Quite honestly, who's allowed access to social media is the problem. There should be a strike system of some sort, and when it's up, it's up, and the Twitter app should be deleted by the authorities. This is why I cannot understand why the FBI/CIA backed down to Apple. They seem weak, and they could've prevented the harassment of women in games. But this is far too off-topic, so I apologise, I just felt like I should say it.

 

[Celtic]

While originally it seemed like one of the two was lying, it does seem that Alison's clarification...er-clarified the situation.
Seems like GG is responsible but mostly for pointing out something that was against company policy and let her go.
Is that right or did I misread?

Nope, that's about what happened.

She doesn't seem frustrated with Nintendo, because she seemed to know that them finding out would lead to her termination (she mentions using an Alias, and said that "They found out").

The thing is that someone dug into her, found this thing that Nintendo wouldn't like, and sent it to them so that they would fire her.

While Nintendo isn't in the wrong (in my opinion) it essentially plays into the hand of the people who were harassing her.

 

[blankempathy]

Is it something illegal? If not, then I can't see why it would matter. She was working under a pseudonym and clearly distanced it from social media and her other job. GG exposed what should have been her private business, so it absolutely has to do with them.

Everything is private until it's public. Let's say she was moonlighting for years and someone just happens to find out and expose her. It doesn't even have to be gg related. She still apparently broke a corporate policy and those policies are in place to avoid such headaches.

 

[GatticusFinch]

Is it something illegal? If not, then I can't see why it would matter. She was working under a pseudonym and clearly distanced it from social media and her other job. GG exposed what should have been her private business, so it absolutely has to do with them.

Well, you obviously know what it is.

It would matter because it would reflect very poorly on her employer. Especially when some of them involve Nintendo products. I could easily see them getting spooked over that. I'm certain they would have never hired her in the first place had they known. Just because something is legal does not mean you want your employees out doing it. I don't want my secretary getting shitfaced and complaining about me at a bar even though it's not a crime (that's not what Rapp did, just using that as an example).

 

[Kinsei]

Well, you obviously know what it is.

It would matter because it would reflect very poorly on her employer. Especially when some of them involve Nintendo products. I could easily see them getting spooked over that. I'm certain they would have never hired her in the first place had they known.

If you are talking about what I think you are then that is not her second job.

 

[TheWorst]

Well, you obviously know what it is.

It would matter because it would reflect very poorly on her employer. Especially when some of them involve Nintendo products. I could easily see them getting spooked over that. I'm certain they would have never hired her in the first place had they known.

I don't. You're not referring to the photoshoot, are you? I think it was determined a while ago that the second "occupation" wasn't that.

 

[James Scott]

Nope, that's about what happened.

She doesn't seem frustrated with Nintendo, because she seemed to know that them finding out would lead to her termination (she mentions using an Alias, and said that "They found out").

The thing is that someone dug into her, found this thing that Nintendo wouldn't like, and sent it to them so that they would fire her.

While Nintendo isn't in the wrong (in my opinion) it essentially plays into the hand of the people who were harassing her.

It's the unfortunate situation of malicious people wanting to get her fired and her doing something that could get her fired.
As for Nintendo doing something about the harassment, I'm not sure what they could've done.
Ban her from Twitter would've pissed her and others off for silencing her even if it would've helped. Don't think Nintendo could issue a statement that would get people to stop harassing others either.
They could of continued to employee someone that broke company policy but I'm not sure that's wise either

 

[GatticusFinch]

If you are talking about what I think you are then that is not her second job.

Then she has three jobs, based on the tweets I'm seeing, because she's receiving goods and likely income in return. I'm not sure if we're allowed to discuss it. If a mod says we can, then okay.

 

[diaspora]

Maybe they could do both. Company makes a public stand on the hatred and harassment levelled at employee, puts pressure on platform holder to take action and report this to police as I believe technically it's a crime to incite hatred towards an individual. Publicly outing them results in their arrest and the folks getting harassed get put in a positive light, effectively having the opposite effect of what GG is trying to achieve.

Too naive?

I think a statement should be made, and that social media platform holders need to both Swift and punishing the the offenders. The naïvete comes from the assumption that a statement would do anything. The only way change happens is when Twitter and Facebook go scorched earth on GG.

 

[Risette]

Then she has three jobs, based on the tweets I'm seeing, because she's receiving goods and likely income in return. I'm not sure if we're allowed to discuss it. If a mod says we can, then okay.

Stop dredging up the shitty unfounded rumors that got the other thread locked.

 

[Kinsei]

Then she has three jobs, based on the tweets I'm seeing, because she's receiving goods and likely income in return. I'm not sure if we're allowed to discuss it. If a mod says we can, then okay.

That wasn't a job.

 

[GatticusFinch]

Stop dredging up the shitty unfounded rumors that got the other thread locked.

Neither unfounded nor rumors. I could post links directly to her twitter, from her mouth. She set herself to be fired by doing that stuff.

Nothing about GG, probably nothing about the child porn thing everyone has been saying either.

 

[skullmuffins]

Are we allowed to post what the alleged second job supposedly is? If what I am seeing elsewhere is accurate, no wonder they fired her, and it has nothing to do with GG and even nothing to do with child porn.

keep in mind she said she did her second job anonymously, under a fake name, so it probably isn't something she openly tweeted about on her real account.

As for the argument that since she didn't reveal what that second job was, it must be shady - it's totally possible she wants to maintain that job and not give people a new place to incessantly harass her at.

Let's not jump to conclusions.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Don't be a prominent woman in a video game company and hold opinions about womens issues in a public forum because jerkoffs will endlessly dig in your personal history until they find something they can use to attack you

Fixed this up a little for you. Don't pretend for a second that this is a unique, isolated case, or they wouldn't have dug endlessly through her personal history hoping to find something that would make Nintendo bite.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

Fixed this up a little for you. Don't pretend for a second that this is a unique, isolated case, or they wouldn't have dug endlessly through her personal history hoping to find something that would make Nintendo bite.

You can cut the "prominent" too.