I do think that, in general, people don't tend to respond well to social criticism, however well-intentioned. And it is social criticism rather particularly, and it has happened before in many movements before this one in which fear was the dominant word of the day. I do think that part of the responsibility lies not only in the hands of the users, but also of those enabling these occurrences. Yet there should (in theory) be safeguards against the juvenile behavior we're seeing, the reality is that in almost every online social space, these abuses play themselves out, with little recourse or action by those who supposedly claim responsibility to assure their users do not feel threatened or attacked.
Social media (and I use that term rather loosely) however has changed the stakes in that threats have a more distinct reality to them while also creating situations of vague responsibility (at least, for the person making the threats). I would say that part of the problem is with Twitter, is with Facebook, and other media middlemen whose inaction is creating an extraordinary and tangible fear amongst millions of people. While there needs to be a stronger stance by videogame media sites as well, the enabling factor here is with these groups. Twitter seems, as Facebook, a de facto space of abuse, whose presence is largely assent to say dangerous and hurtful things.
There are statements in both of these companies' EULAs and these terms are also fairly consistent amongst all companies who provide a public space for posting:
And yet... what is their reaction? Institutional abuse, you would think, would naturally lead to institutional reform. But it hasn't happened, and these hate campaigns are not new. They are as old as the creation of the media and despite their massive growth, nothing has changed. Media also has social responsibility and without it, real problems, real fear and real abuse emerge.
