Play and Misinformation: How America's Conspiracy Culture Became Gamified

Author:

Bortnick Justin A.1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of English, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Abstract

In this article, the author draws upon their own experience as a commercial alternate reality game designer and interviews with other working professionals, examining how the form moved from its origins as outsider art into the realm of commercial production and then beyond that as a tool of political influence. The article traces the long history of misinformation and conspiracy in American politics and demonstrates how the introduction of entertainment industry design methodologies has altered the production of disinformation campaigns. From Andrew Jackson and the New York Slave Conspiracy of 1741 through Gamergate and QAnon, the article argues that while conspiracy has always been a central part of American culture, the introduction of modern game design has altered the landscape, and that only by recognizing how our work as designers is being co-opted can we can begin to work to prevent additional social harms.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Human-Computer Interaction,Applied Psychology,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Anthropology,Communication,Cultural Studies

Reference41 articles.

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2. Anonymous (2021a, January 9). Personal Interview.

3. Anonymous (2021b, January 24). Personal Interview.

4. Berkowitz R. (2020, September 30). A game designer’s analysis of QAnon. Curiouser Institute. Medium. medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analysis-of-qanon-580972548be5.

5. Bernstein J. (2014, December 4). GamerGate’s headquarters has been destroyed by trolls. Buzzfeed News. www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/gamergates-headquarters-has-been-destroyed-by-trolls.

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