Projects:Operation SKYNET

Operation SKYNET is a mass-following campaign executed on Twitter. The goal is to connect a vast network of GamerGate supporters and gamers to strengthen resolve and boost morale. Users who tweet using the hashtag #OpSKYNET are followed by people who browse the hashtag page, and the original user then follows everyone who followed them.

Participation
Participating in Operation SKYNET is as simple as going to the OpSKYNET hashtag page and following any or all posters there. Followers can be gained by tweeting with the tag #OpSKYNET, and is especially effective with an image directly related to OpSKYNET, such as the one featured on this page. Participants are obligated to follow anyone who follows them. It is also common for participants to tweet a list of GamerGate accounts that they think others should follow, similar to the Twitter tradition Follow Friday

History
Operation SKYNET was partially inspired by the GGAutoBlocker project, which was started on 4 November. The goal of GGAutoBlocker is to create a list of GamerGate "sheeple" who follow two or more prominent GamerGate supporters, with the intent to automatically block all of them. The original list included followers of Adam Baldwin and Christina Hoff Sommers, and as such the block list was 15,000 names long. The first block list included people such as Erik Kain and Boogie, two prominent video game figures that are neutral in GamerGate, both of whom were disappointed that they were blocked.

Upon realizing that GamerGate opponents had basically given GamerGate supporters a list of supporters on twitter to follow, users on 8chan began discussing following every name on the list. Unfortunately it seemed likely that a large amount of people all following the same group of people would be seen as a botnet, and that would probably result in suspension. As a workaround, an 8chan user created a website to randomly select three people from the block list for someone to follow, the randomness ensuring they wouldn't get flagged as a bot. This method was rendered obsolete by Operation SKYNET.