You're Never Weird on the Internet: 08/04/16

You're Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day is a memoir about a life of gaming, becoming an actor, being a YouTube star, and being a target of the Gamergate shit storm.

I know of Felicia Day's work on two series: Eureka and Supernatural. In reading this memoir, I'm suppose to know her from her YouTube (and later Netflix) series, The Guild. I haven't seen a single episode and I'm not really inclined to watch at this juncture.

The most fascinating and horrifying part of the book is the last couple chapters that deal with her part in Gamergate. As I was following her Tumblr because of her role as Charlie Bradbury on Supernatural, I saw her initial post about feeling the need to cross the street when she saw a male fan approaching, something she had previously never felt the need to do.

I also saw the initial flurry of comments that came in response to it. The doxing and threats and other horrible stuff happened over night. By then I focused on something similar happening to a pair of librarians, so colleagues by proxy.

It's an uncomfortable read at the end of an otherwise quirky and delightful memoir. Granted there are places I skipped because I don't share her unbridled enthusiasm for MMPORGs or for YouTube but I still got caught up in her bubbly writing.

Four stars

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