The Gamergate Conspiracy We have discussed at some length above whether Gamergate should be described as a controversy as we do now or as a movement as Gamergate supporters apparently prefer The sources clearly have a hard time finding the precise language to use here So do we Let s look at all the options A movement is a group of people working together to advance their shared political social or artistic ideas The members or the leaders of a movement are identifiable people and the shared ideas are typically put forth in a manifesto or platform Examples include the labor movement the temperance movement the Impressionist movement and the Chautauqua movement Even the resistance movements of the Second World War were characterized by organization indeed organization is what distinguishes an organized resistance and a resistance necessarily adheres to stated principles Gamergate lacks leadership organization or a statement of principles Gamergate is not a movement nomovement come to mind that lacks either leadership and manifesto A controversy is a dispute a prolonged public disagreement Controversy surrounds Gamergate indeed that controversy has made Gamergate notable Some have argued here at some length that while controversy surrounds Gamergate Gamergate is not a controversy They do have a point our sources do write of Gamergate supporters but no one writes about Watergate supporters or Tea Pot Dome supporters Our current lede uses controversy as a generous fiction it s not perfect but it s been satisfactory for some time and I have no strong objection to maintaining it We do have a word that does apply rigorously to Gamergate as it is described by the sources that word is conspiracy A conspiracy is a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful and this is precisely what our sources describe Gamergate s absence of visible leadership and the lack of expressed principles aren t compatible with the behaviors of movements but are of course quite common in conspiracies from Alcibiades to Cataline and onward Plot might be an alternative to conspiracy though it is probably even more pejorative Scheme would also work in its American usage but its use in British English to describe a governmental or institutional programme would cause confusion Crusade captures the fervor of Gamergate s supporters and the violence of their sentiments but crusades have a stated goal Likewise Gamergate can not be a campaign or a drive as it lacks an objective toward which to it steer Cabal is possible I suppose But conspiracy is precise Conspiracy also lets us finesse the problem of Gamergate being said to claim to be a movement Who can credibly assert that claim Someone might claim that Gamergate is a clam or a festival or a joke how should we judge If someone claims it s one thing and someone else claims it s not how do we distinguish In two ways WP RS and WP FRINGE Following the latter it s hard to see that Gamergate can be made to fit the definition of movement but it clearly fits the definition of conspiracy perfectly