Definitive WeGame Coverage at the Columbia Spectator

, by Ezra Silk, Blargus co-editor

So my new friend Armin Rosen at the Spectator has provided the world with a much needed essay on the wegame debacle. While we here at the Blargus enjoyed being the only outlet on the web covering the wegame scandal, it’s about time that someone did an in-depth piece with data, interviews, and the whole she-bang. Good work, Armin. Here’s a delightful little taste:

“(Your friend) wants to show you a picture,” the e-mail assured me. It was 1:30 a.m., hardly a time for cogent decision making. And I was jarred by a notoriously unstable acquaintance even wanting to show me something online. Date of birth? Whatever. E-mail address? Just take me to the goddamn picture. Gmail password? Now why didn’t that set off a red flag or ten? Google and Twitter both know my Gmail password, so I must have decided that Wegame—whatever the hell Wegame was—wasn’t any less deserving. Reflex overwhelmed reason. Even at the time, Wegame sounded less like the name of a photo-hosting Web site than a total obscurity looking for a viral push.

More: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/09/20/spammed

About Ezra Silk

I have been interested in journalism ever since I was an editor at my high school student newspaper, where I was involved in a freedom of speech controversy that was covered in the local newspaper as well as local television and radio outlets. The ACLU became involved, and the ensuing negotiations lead to a liberalization of my school's freedom of expression policy. I worked as a summer intern at the Hartford Courant after my freshman year at Wesleyan, reporting for the Avon Bureau under Bill Leukhardt and publishing over 30 stories. At the Argus I have been a news reporter, news assistant editor, news editor, features editor, editor-in-chief, executive editor, blogger, and multimedia director. I have overseen the redesign of wesleyanargus.com, founding the Blargus and initiating ArgusVideo at the beginning of my time as editor-in-chief during the spring of my junior year. During my senior year, I have co-edited the Blargus with Gianna Palmer and founded Argus News Radio, a 15-minute weekly show produced by WESU 88.1 on which I conduct a weekly segment interviewing seniors about their thesis topics. I have written over 70 stories at the Argus and continue to do reporting and blogging as much as I can.
  • Burt

    Good reporting. I’ve been conducting a campaign against WeGame for this egregious marketing/spamming ploy. Here’s a tip to other companies considering taking advantage of people and hijacking their contact lists (which on Gmail is everyone you’ve ever emailed with) —- Don’t do it. We know exactly who you are, who funds you, and who to report you to.

    Perhaps WeGame assumed that the contact lists they would phish would only be gamers – and these people would be too busy to care.

    But unfortunately their campaign included me…and just like how gamers spend their every waking hour shooting zombie teletubbies, I am spending every waking hour thinking about how to make WeGame pay for these flagrant abuses and exploitation of the connectivity of the Web.

    They fucked with the wrong guy.

  • BORKBORK

    Hey Burt, you’re a real INTERNET TOUGH GUY. I hope you’re not one of those HACKERS ON STEROIDS.

  • Burt

    I’m not a hacker, nor am I on steroids. I’m just an old-fashioned guy who has adopted the power of new media in my fight against injustice and rogue start-ups.

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