Overwatch YouTuber Gets Harassed After Redditor Makes False Accusations

[Mister Cheese]

http://kotaku.com/overwatch-youtuber...s-f-1795018264

Over the past few years, Reddit has become the go-to destination for those who feel they have been mistreated and want to hold powerful figures accountable. But the popular website, which refers to itself as “the front page of the Internet,” is also a breeding ground for mobs that require little evidence before embarking on vociferous witch hunts. As one moderator told me after the Overwatch subreddit exploded this weekend, Redditors like to “upvote first, ask questions later.”

This weekend, a thread on the Overwatch subreddit snowballed into a thousands-strong witch hunt against Overwatch YouTuber OhNickel. OhNickel’s Overwatch commentary channel has about 800,000 subscribers. There, and on Twitter, he hosts occasional contests with Steam giveaway prizes.

Yesterday, on /r/Overwatch, a poster named “Vitalechz” claimed that “Overwatch YouTuber ‘ohnickle’ still hasn’t given me my prize after 2 Months.” (As some Redditors later pointed out, one red flag was that he misspelled the YouTuber’s name.) In the post, he claimed that he had won one of the YouTuber’s contests and that OhNickel had cheated him out of the Steam gift card he promised.



The thread rocketed to the top of /r/Overwatch with 22,000 upvotes, and eventually, up to Reddit’s front page, /r/all. Redditors were furious, spamming OhNickel’s Twitter with vitriol and downvoting his YouTube videos en masse. When he woke up the next morning, OhNickel saw a “hate bandwagon” beyond anything he’d seen before, he said in a recent YouTube video. People called him a “scumbag” who advertised “scams.” At worst, randos told him to “die.” Sympathetic Redditors offered the original poster Steam points.

But the Reddit poster, it turns out, was an imposter. OhNickel provided evidence that the real contest winner, who went by Vitalechz on Twitter, received his prize back in March. The real Vitalechz corroborated. The Reddit poster who inspired this witch hunt had simply used Vitalechz’s Twitter name, which was all it took to fool people.

Redditor Turikk, a moderator on /r/Overwatch, told me that the subreddit had never experienced such an explosive post before. “I can’t recall a situation in which a story appeared to have been fabricated from scratch, with no apparent intent other than to stir drama or defame,” he said. “This original poster made a very deliberate attempt to get as much visibility as possible, whereas most users are looking for a genuine resolution to their problem.” He added that Reddit can “tend to ‘upvote first, ask questions later’ when it comes to consumer issues.”

It’s yet another example of what can go wrong when Internet crowds feed off misinformation. In 2013, a throng of Redditors collaborated to try to identify the Boston Marathon bomber, only to falsely accuse a student who had done nothing wrong. As OhNickel said on YouTube, sites like Reddit are ripe for anyone who wants to take “advantage of people willing to believe something without any proof.”

4chan is still cancer though right? Even though if you try to pull this shit there they'll all just say "not your personal army fuck off."? Think before you read into something and believe it.

[Dug]

That's what you got out of this situation? Not that witch hunting is bad but that reddit is worse than 4chan...? But yes to answer your question /b/ and /pol/ are cancerous. And so are certain reddit users.

[anveena]

I find it funny you think this shit doesn't happen on 4chan.

[Independent voter]

Great publicity for ohnickle, never heard of him before.

[Slirith]

Great publicity for ohnickle, never heard of him before.

My thoughts exactly.

[GennGreymane]

Yeah it was pretty crazy. I saw the thread on Reddit and made nothing of it other than the usual drama, turns out it became fucking nuts.

[Deathquoi]

http://kotaku.com/overwatch-youtuber...s-f-1795018264



4chan is still cancer though right? Even though if you try to pull this shit there they'll all just say "not your personal army fuck off."? Think before you read into something and believe it.

I'm not sure how something like this has fuck all to do with 4chan.

[BananaHandsB]

Makes you wonder how democracy can work in this day and age when people are so dumb even a random reddit shit poster with 0 credibility can lead them into a full blown witchhunt with little more than some made up information.

[Forgettable]

Wouldn't it be interesting if OhNickel did this just to get publicity?

#conspiracytheory
#anypublicityisgoodpublicity

I don't actually believe the above statement to be true.

[Very Tired]

It's all more of a comment on how easy it is to get mob mentality. We see this in actual politics all the time where people will believe whatever load of fake news is posted on their Facebook wall.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Makes you wonder how democracy can work in this day and age when people are so dumb even a random reddit shit poster with 0 credibility can lead them into a full blown witchhunt with little more than some made up information.

Who says democracy WILL be working 25 years from now? Fascism will have its day once more thanks to retards with the right to vote. People are already believing fake news and "alternative facts" with no source checking.

[tss]

Better than being SWATed.

[KrazyK923]

4chan is still cancer though right? Even though if you try to pull this shit there they'll all just say "not your personal army fuck off."? Think before you read into something and believe it.

Yes, 4chan is still cancer. Another website being bad doesn't make 4chan suddenly not cancer.

[Deleted]

I'm still confused. Sent my pitchfork to the sharpener just in case.

[Yunru]

This looks like a self-trolling to raise awarnes of yourself. Providing *evidence* just fells scripted.

[Darkeon]

Who says democracy WILL be working 25 years from now? Fascism will have its day once more thanks to retards with the right to vote. People are already believing fake news and "alternative facts" with no source checking.

Well said!

I say screw their plans and install, now, some sort of plan into action that will, hmm, say who is the best person in charge for the well being of the people and, even if the people doesn't want them in charge, too bad! It's the best for them! Maybe even slap the people around a bit, should they start to show signs of revolt. Yeah, that might work.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Well said!

I say screw their plans and install, now, some sort of plan into action that will, hmm, say who is the best person in charge for the well being of the people and, even if the people doesn't want them in charge, too bad! It's the best for them! Maybe even slap the people around a bit, should they start to show signs of revolt. Yeah, that might work.

That sounds extremely bad to me, but I'm not one to judge how you want to be ruled.

[yetgdhfgh]

Ive learnt if you stick your head above the trench expect someone to try and shoot it off

That is just the way the internet works there will always be people jealous and envy success so they do there best to fuck you over.

I just thank god i hide behind avatars and fake names plus i dont have twitter or FB so nobody can fuck with my life.

[Garnier Fructis]

4chan is still cancer though right? Even though if you try to pull this shit there they'll all just say "not your personal army fuck off."? Think before you read into something and believe it.

Yes, 4chan is still cancer. Is this somehow supposed to be less true because another site is cancerous?

[Darkeon]

That sounds extremely bad to me, but I'm not one to judge how you want to be ruled.

So democracy is still good (even if you perceive people as "retards" for having a different opinion than yours - which is a meh thing to do, but eh..)? Good!
Now back on to the topic, with me!