The most important gaming influencer on Twitter in Germany is Etienne Gardé from the livestream channel Rocket Beans TV. He has now sparked a shitstorm with a tweet.
Who is Germany’s most important influencer on Twitter? According to the website Gameswirtschaft, Etienne Gardé was the most important gaming influencer on German Twitter in 2018.
This refers to a report from an agency that analyzed 800 million tweets in August and October 2018.
Gardé manages to have his 243,000 followers regularly retweet, mention him, and respond to his tweets. Thus, Gardé is number one in his field on Twitter ahead of other German gaming celebrities such as:
- Fatih Dayik (CS:GO professional)
- Erik Range (YouTuber Gronkh)
- Dominik Neumeyer (domtendo, known for Nintendo Let’s Plays)
- Simon Krätschmer and Nils Bomhoff (both Rocket Beans).
Etienne Gardé is known to many gamers from his work at GIGA as a television host. Later he was an editor at GameOne.
For several years Gardé has been one of the heads behind the YouTube and Twitch channel Rocket Beans TV.
What was the tweet about?
- Greta Thunberg is a 16-year-old student who is seen as the face of the German school strikes for climate.
- Michael Jackson was a pop star accused of having sex with children.
This is what the shitstorm was about: Gardé had anticipated a furious reaction to his tweet, and it came promptly.
The tweet triggered, as expected, some angry counter-tweets on Twitter. Some found it tasteless that Gardé put the environmental activist in the same category as the alleged pedophile, Michael Jackson.
For many, jokes about child sex are taboo anyway. The fact that Gardé makes fun of environmental activists only adds to it. For some, this shows Gardé’s political, “right-wing” mindset.
The conflicts around Gamergate seem to still resonate and boil over whenever the opportunity arises.
Some tweeted their rejection with #GamerGate. This implies that gamers have a “conservative” mindset, even to the reactionary.
The action made such waves that in the English Gamergate Reddit “Kotaku in Action” asked what was going on, why so many Germans suddenly use #Gamergate.
One user saw a shitstorm coming towards gamers and wanted Gardé to distance himself from it to prevent damage.
Others, however, accuse those who are upset about the tweet of being “professional outraged”. They should not be so sensitive.
This is what it’s about: Interestingly, the influence Gardé has on Twitter extends beyond the pure gamer community.
A tweet from him apparently can lead to outrage not only falling back on him but also on “gamers in general.”
Interestingly, it matters to some gamers that no bad light falls on their hobby.
The conflicts around Gamergate seem to still resonate and boil over whenever the opportunity arises.
