I don’t know if it was a test run or if it showed the ability to weaponize Extremely Online folks.

I remember gamergate as something that, on the surface, looked like possibly legitimate criticism, but then as you said, people that went into it became kind of odd, with their own language used to describe it which didn’t really make sense. Like, the words were there, but they were using kinda tortured definitions in a way that weaponized them.

Personally, I’ve always been fascinated with language as someone who basically grew up bilingual, and picked up a few along the way since. There are concepts that I simply am unable to discuss in certain languages, because the words are not there.

Weaponized language had been around for some time. Hell, Gingrich basically made his career by using specific loaded phrases in speeches given to an empty senate chamber, specifically for the weirdos who watch C-SPAN. Similarly, you had some insular (often hate) groups that had their own internal lingo. Gamergate seems to have combined the two in a way that is now becoming increasingly common in politics.