About
“Actually it’s about ethics in videogame journalism” is a phrase often photoshoped onto screenshots taken from horror movies or videogames as a humorous response to the Gamergate movement. Proponents of the movement frequently used the phrase in related discussion. The images are created to mock the over-use of the phrase.
Origin
The earliest example of the phrase being paired with a still from a horror movie comes from a tweet sent out on October 15th, 2014, by Twitter user Alejandrobot[1], who captioned a still of the horror film It. Within two weeks the tweet recieved over 3,000 favorites and over 2,000 retweets.
Spread
On October 24th, 2014, the single topic Tumblr blogs itsaboutethicsingamesjournalism[2] and actuallyethics[4] launched. The same day the meme was covered by BoingBoing,[3] followed by Buzzfeed[7] the next day. Also on October 24th, The Washington Post[9] interviewed Gamergate supporters who claim Gamergate is about journalism ethics. The meme has also spread on Twitter through the hashtag #germergoat.[9] The hashtag was introduced by Twitter user zpxlng[5] on October 24th, through a tweet that received more than 700 times retweets in less than 24 hours.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Twitter – Alejandrobot
[2]Tumblr- itsaboutethicsingamesjournalism
[3]BoingBoing Actually, it’s about ethics in game journalism.
[4]Tumblr- actuallyethics
[6]Topsy- #germergoat
[7]Buzzfeed – 21 Times GamerGate Was About Ethics In Gaming Journalism
[8]The Washington Post – How some Gamergate supporters say the controversy could stop
[9]Twitter – #GermerGoat