Once upon a time, Twitter used to be a simple place where people could keep tabs on each other by regularly posting short updates, kind of like that distant relative who briefs the extended family once a week with a family newsletter-style mass email, only much more succinct and digestible. Back in the day, you could only tweet 140 characters, so brevity was a skill one was required to hone if they wanted to use Twitter. At 9:50pm on March 21, 2006, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet ever out into the digital world—'just setting up my twttr.' At first, the tweets that followed were just as mundane and innocuous, reflecting the humble vision for the fledgeling social network at the time. Some of the first tweets ever include, 'wishing I had another sammich' and 'having some flowery orange pekoe tea' and 'feeling pains in my back.' We've come a looooong way since those early Twitter days, to say the least. It's impossible to diagnose the exact turning point from harmless, uncomplicated Twitter to the toxic Twitter hellscape everyone loves to hate today, but increasing the character limit to 280 probably didn't hurt. What used to be a place for people to update followers about their lunch is now a place where millions are hungry to own their enemies with snide subtweets, sanctimonious hot takes, and disparaging jokes. If you're logging on to a social media account knowing you're about to see mostly cringe and negativity, it probably safe to call that space a toxic environment.
One common theme of contemporary toxic Twitter is gatekeeping. What is 'gatekeeping' exactly? It's basically when someone claims authority over enjoying or accessing a hobby, interest group, or identity based on fake rules. For example, 'If you don't know who this musician is, then you're not a real jazz fan.' Or you might be familiar with the popular meme that aptly mocks the gatekeeper: 'Oh, you like movies? Name all of them.' Recently, self-proclaimed King of Anime @BlackDGamer1 tweeted the ultimate pro-gatekeeping hot take that caused some discourse that was exemplary of what Twitter is like now. 'If all your common knowledge of anime, is Demon Slayer, Naruto, Inuyasha, Bleach, One Piece, Fate, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam, My Hero Academia, Yu-Gi-Oh & Ghost in The Shell, then you're NOT an anime fan! Normies stay the f*ck out of Anime!' That's a whole lot of anime one could watch and still not qualify for the official 'Anime Fan' club card. Though some attempted to make a case for gatekeeping nerdom from the normies, most people argued that letting others enjoy things is fine and good. We've collected some tweets from the gatekeeping anime discourse to paint a picture of the toxicity of Twitter for you. Maybe some day we can return to tweeting about the simple mundanities of life. Or perhaps some kind of weekly Twitter holiday can be instated that prohibits negative vibes.
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If all your common knowledge of anime, is Demon Slayer, Naruto, Inuyasha, Bleach, One Piece, Fate, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam, My Hero Academia, Yu-Gi-Oh & Ghost in The Shell, then you're NOT an anime fan!
— BlackSageD Sony Still Censors Japanese Video Games (@BlackDGamer1) February 15, 2021
Normies stay the fuck out of Anime! pic.twitter.com/3zqBjmLXrA
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Just want to remind folks, that gatekeeping your fandoms is a good thing.
— BlackSageD Sony Still Censors Japanese Video Games (@BlackDGamer1) February 15, 2021
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The only thing that doesn’t make you an anime fan is gatekeeping people from being fans because of a superiority complex
— Salty (@saltydkdan) February 15, 2021
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OMG absolutely true. These assholes ruin everything, Comics, Video games, tabletop gaming, films... EVERYTHING... pic.twitter.com/5vs8mYgOj3
— Lord Brian Urso, Guitarist From Gideons Mob (@MobGideons) February 16, 2021
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To the people who are justifying #gatekeeping pic.twitter.com/2iguB5P4rB
— Jalen Reeves (@GTCubsEagles10) February 16, 2021
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Oh? Is Gatekeeping trending? pic.twitter.com/RuERFwhqWf
— Nintendo Fans Complaining About Nintendo (@AboutNintendo) February 16, 2021
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No, that's not a good thing, because we're going to start seeing a bunch of weirdos change the hobby, to suit their needs & we're going to see a bunch of woke activist shit, being slipped in our favorite series.
— BlackSageD Sony Still Censors Japanese Video Games (@BlackDGamer1) February 15, 2021
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Terrible take. Hey everyone! You are all welcome to watch any anime that you want! You wanna binge watch all 900+ episodes of One Piece? Go for it! You think My Hero Academia is the best thing ever? Good to hear! I love it too. Know some awesome obscure anime? List it below!
— Jamie @ BestNerdLife (@BestNerdLife) February 15, 2021
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counter-point, if you gatekeep you're not a real anime fan
— Big Bank Hank Hill (@Chef_Lu_Bu) February 15, 2021
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ive decided to start gatekeeping video games. if you havent played the opening 5 hours of dark souls 25 times you arent a real gamer. if you havent bought assassins creed every year to only play one third of the story before remembering that you dont like these games you arent a
— 9 V O L T (@9_volt_) February 16, 2021
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There are 7 billion people in the world.
— Inka Magnaye (@inkamagnaye) February 18, 2021
Do you honestly think you’re the only one who has your style and unique set of interests? lol
Stop gatekeeping and let people enjoy what they like and who they are. You make more friends that way 😚
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Re: GATEKEEPING
— bubba sparxxx fan acct (@theneedledrop) February 16, 2021
If it looks cringe when someone is doing it w/ anime, don’t do it with music either.
Taste isn’t just what you consume but how intently you consume it. Loads of edgy no-tasters out there who just bandwagon onto anything obscure.
Balance and inclusion is life. pic.twitter.com/fjVm5PTJEa
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"If your videogame knowledge is solely based on popular titles such as Super Mario, Zelda, Halo, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, CounterStrike, and Tetris you're NOT a gamer!" #gatekeeping
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 16, 2021
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On the subject of gatekeeping, I'd honestly rather talk to someone who started watching horror movies this year and loves them & wants to know everything about them than someone who's intent on making sure everyone around them knows how much of an expert & "true fan" they are.
— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) February 16, 2021
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