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Why are gaming nerds so terrible?

I’m apparently spending a lot of time wondering about the psychology of terrible people.

I am late to this and only catching up but the misogynistic storm raging in the gaming world about indie game dev Zoe Quinn is insane and terrifying. It’s not the first time this has happened and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s always depressing to remember that something you love so much can have such a disgusting and toxic culture.

But why the hell is gaming so uniquely ugly in this regard? The world of entertainment is a misogynistic place. In competitive fields where individuals are vying for attention (such as film or electronic music), women are generally paid much less or consistently overlooked. It’s quiet, effective and nasty. Video games, apparently, are a different bag of oranges. Why can’t they just quietly drown women’s dreams like everyone else? Why does it have to be so incredibly explosive and violent?

I have a guess, and it ties into what is basically the unraveling of traditional nerd culture.

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Cat video for slow grandma

If you like cats but cat videos are a bit too difficult for you to follow, despair not, for there is Animal Planet’s Too Cute. With a helpful narrator and plunky music, you will never again have to worry about what you should be feeling or thinking when you watch a kitten fall on its face.

Canned laughter is a long standing crutch of the sitcom, serving as a cue for when people are supposed to find something funny. Is this in that tradition? Are there actually people who find goofy animal videos better with this kind of cuing? Or is this a television company pathetically trying to latch on to a phenomenon taking place outside its jurisdiction, in a manner that only highlights how the media landscape is slowly slipping away from their control?

Really hoping it’s not the former.