“Convey a sense of Navy calm” and “utilize your personal commentary arsenal.”
This is some of the advice the Navy gave its eSports team Goats & Glory gamers for handling online trolls. It comes in a training brief produced after users spent several days “spamming” the Navy’s Twitch channel in summer 2020.
In July 2020, both the Army and Navy eSports teams started blocking users who began asking about U.S. war crimes, which some rights groups said was a likely violation of the First Amendment.
The kerfuffle also raised the ire of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She proposed a measure that would’ve blocked the military from using funds to “maintain a presence” on video game live-streaming platforms.
“It’s incredibly irresponsible for the Army and the Navy to be recruiting impressionable young people and children via live streaming platforms,” she told VICE in July.
The bill failed in a 292-126 vote.
The Navy released the training brief, dated late July, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2020.
The brief proposes the timeless tactic of dealing with trolls by depriving the antagonizers of attention or redirecting focus.
“Reference anything relatable/funny/engaging that will pull attention away from the chat and back on you,” it advises.
When something in the chat frustrates or angers the streamer, one slide tells them to pull from a “go-to list” of topics such as movies, favorite gaming consoles and other pop culture.
Another slide suggests approaches “if you must respond.” It provides four basic responses, including one that directs users concerned about war crimes to contact their elected officials.
The training provides some suggestions for “keeping it personal.” It encourages gamers to focus on their own stories, such as why they joined the Navy and what “adventures” they’ve had in the service.
A second document, titled “Twitch guide for streamers,” suggests similar discussion topics. The guide also provides some ideas for discussing how gaming relates to Navy careers.
For example, skillsets gamers develop are also used in nuclear engineering, aviation, special warfare, cryptology and counterintelligence, it says. You know, all the harder-to-fill career fields.
This guide helpfully give the streamers a decision tree for which comments merit responses and which ones don’t. Long story short: don’t respond to comments that don’t meet the community standards or don’t require a response.
Makes sense.
Here’s the training brief.
eSports-Training-7.29-FinalHere’s the Navy’s Twitch guide.
Navy-Esports-Twitch-Media-Guide_marked_RedactedKeep Reading
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