"gate"-Gate

Attention Internet: Can we please stop attaching the tag “-gate” to every controversy that crosses our screens?  GamerGate, DeflateGate, EllisGate, #DressGate… I am starting to lose faith over here. 

Here’s the deal.  Watergate, the original “gate” scandal, was an ACTUAL big deal.  And it’s not named “gate” for a special reason – it was the name of the hotel where the tapes where.  That’s it.  Not because it was opening pathways for discussion, not because people flipped their collective shit, not because it made a cute hash-tag or encapsulated the most pointless Internet argument I’ve ever witnessed. 

Knock it off with the “-gate.”  Each point of controversy so titled means less than the ones before it; hell, most of these aren’t actual controversies anyway, so why on earth are we as a collective trying to make them so?

(And if you don’t believe me that these aren’t controversies… well, here’s the summary:

-GamerGate: Don’t sleep with people for game reviews.  Also death-threats are not an appropriate way to disagree with someone.

-DeflateGate: No one gives a shit about football, but they will pretend because everyone else seems so upset.

-EllisGate: Yet another example of how sarcasm doesn’t translate on Twitter

-DressGate: Optical illusions fuck everyone up.

The End.)

Each conversation gets taken a little less seriously as we draw linguistic comparisons that are entirely unwarranted.  GamerGate is the only even remotely real issue, since it was intended to push for gender equality in gaming, but even that is diminished by how it was handled by the terrifying combination of Social Justice Warriors and 4chan-types.  Frankly, with the immaturity demonstrated on both sides of the aisle, I struggle with the fact that anyone paid attention in the first place.  The rest of the –gates, well…

Eventually an actual, real cause is going to show up on the Internet and need support – like Net Neutrality.  Notice there was no “Net Neutrality-Gate,” because people realized it needed actual support, not imagined controversy, to pass.  Taking on that meaningless title minimizes the actual attention needed for the issue; it becomes inflammatory instead of valuable, a shouting match instead of a progressive discussion. 

I much prefer progression to stagnation, but I’m having trouble saying that regarding the Internet as of late. 

If I had a Twitter account, I would end with #gateGate, because that could probably be a thing. *shakes head at Internet*

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.