#OPGamerGate Group 4 preliminary research results

#OPGamerGate Group 4 preliminary research results
Sourced from https://pastebin.com/wc1rYaVv
Compiled 16 Apr 2017 by 48210f

@Malgayne (Casey Monroe)
Connections: Retweets and/or follows several known entities, among them Leigh Alexander, Sarah Nyberg, Alexandra Erin, Chris Kluwe, Ellen Pao, SecretGamerGirl, Katherine Cross, PC Gamer, Tauriq Moosa, Ashley Lynch, and Matt Binder.
Professional: Claims to be a former employee of Zynga, Google, and Wowhead. Currently claiming to be a community manager at Toyota, while including the Pixels Bar, Spark Plug Games, and an iOS game called Fates Forever. Fates Forever's website no longer appears to exist, and the game's Twitter account has been inactive since January 2015. Spark Plug Games's Twitter account has been inactive since October 2015. SPG's website still has a 2016 copyright registry on it, their highest-profile release appears to be the iOS port of Puzzle Quest 2, and their most recent release was a rail shooter that hit Steam in July 2016. Pixels is a bar based in Austin, TX. User's last known post on their main page is dated July 2016. User's own managing.community is a barely-customized Wordpress template site marked as "under construction."
Personal: Twitter account has an extremely strong focus on politics--the last month of User's posts is almost entirely tweets or retweets regarding current events intersecting with perceived failures of the current US presidential administration. Pinned tweet is from the morning after the 2016 election, detailing User's plan to put together a financial support network for the impending victims of the incoming presidential administration. Virtually no mention of video games in general outside of commenting on controversial flareups that intersect with User's political leanings (such as defending the female Bioware employee held up as an example of why Mass Effect Andromeda's facial animations were so poor).
Initial Conclusions: User seems to very much be a true believer in the drive to make video games more of a political medium, but there does not appear to be any sign that he wields any significant amount of industry influence. That said, he works in the publicity sector and maintains at least some industry contacts (he's still followed by more than one developer), so he's a potential candidate for further research, if not a particularly high-priority one.

@MaLrw3
Connections: None immediately apparent. Over 1800 followers, over 1500 follows, no access to either due to Twitter's account restrictions.
Professional: No claims made.
Personal: Vast majority of the user's tweets do not seem available--difficult to say if they were deleted by the user, lost in one of Twitter's many software shuffles, or simply restricted from public access. What tidbits remain suggest that the user follows global politics, hacktivism, and generic human interest stories with a focus on animal cruelty. The user also seems to take an interest in engaging in verbal sparring with conservative-aligned Twitter users, and has been repeatedly maligned as a troll, coward, and other epithets often used to dismiss shitposters.
Initial Conclusions: User's interests do not appear politicized in excess of an average social media user, nor do they display any particular focus on video games as a medium or industry. Having said that, the user's interests do include hacktivism, cybersecurity, and online privacy, which would make this user a potential resource for similarly-aligned individuals looking to cover their tracks (or a sign that the user has already covered their own). Further research into this user has a small chance of providing relevant information, but such an investigation would require resources beyond the scope of the current researcher. Recommend relegation to low-priority status unless new information surfaces.

@MandySCG (Mandy Jane)
Connections: None immediately apparent. Under 1K tweets/follows/followers.
Professional: No claims made.
Personal: Vast majority of recorded tweets appear to simply be retweets from popular Twitter accounts, such as celebrities or Twitter hubs for popular TV shows. Others involve seemingly-random social interactions with since-suspended/deleted accounts or generic birthday wishes to celebrities. User's
Initial Conclusions: User's interests do not appear politicized in excess of an average social media user, nor do they display any particular focus on video games as a medium or industry. All signs point to this account being a random hanger-on with no real interaction with the industry in general or GG in particular. Non-factor.

@mastenMMC
Connections: None immediately apparent. User's native language appears to be Slovenian, making thorough research quite difficult, but at the same time limiting the likelihood of significant connections within an industry that is heavily Anglophone.
Professional: Sole website listed in user's profile links to the "International Gay Rodeo Association." Combined with user's profile image, it is highly unlikely that this is a serious or authentic claim.
Personal: User's primary interests overwhelmingly appear to be science and Slovenian politics, along with a slight mention of social drinking and gaming almost as an afterthought. The one example of gaming found was actually a tabletop game being played at a bar, potentially relegating it to ancillary status.
Initial Conclusions: User's interests do not appear politicized in excess of an average social media user, nor do they display any particular focus on video games as a medium or industry. User appears to be a troll/humor account with no real interaction with the industry in general or GG in particular. Non-factor.

@MaxxieBytes
Connections: None immediately apparent. Under 1k follows/followers, 31k tweets, and virtually no likes/retweets on any of them. The closest thing to any sort of connection shown was in the user retweeting Alexandra Erin in March 2017.
Professional: Profile claims to be a "freelance culture pundit" and "poor underpaid technomancer" along with a link to Paypal the user money directly. All signs point to being an unemployed e-beggar.
Personal: Heavy emphasis on politics in general and identity (specifically trans/queer) politics in particular. Interests in gaming seem to begin and end at where they intersect with trans/queer identity politics, such as available romances in the Mass Effect series.
Initial Conclusions: Due to the exceptionally high volume of tweets, this user's historically could theoretically contain something important buried several months back in the timeline, but the user's extremely limited influence/reach combined with their timeline's focus on blogging personal experiences instead of sweeping declarations of criticism and/or policy render the user barely distinguishable from a manufactured bot meant to parody SJW behavior. Non-factor.

@MCHeadCase
Connections: None immediately apparent. Under 500 followers/followers, and retweets primarily be from non-industry-related accounts.
Professional: Appears to be an aspiring musician with a hip-hop album published on Bandcamp. No sign of industry connections here.
Personal: Interests seem to be hip-hop, pro wrestling, and US politics in that order. Significant emphasis on politics, but not significantly beyond that displayed by most Twitter users. Hip-hop music/culture/history are overwhelmingly the primary focus of the user's Twitter account. Zero mention whatsoever of video games in the last month.
Initial Conclusions: User's interests are moderately politicized, but with little sign of influence or connection within social justice circles and no sign whatsoever of the gaming industry. Non-factor.

@miaC - Mia Consalvo
Known entity. Skipped per instructions.