Yes, Virginia, there ARE girls on the Internet!

This article was prompted by a post by Pike at Aspect of the Hare. I have to say, she gave me a chuckle, but I thought I just might want to make sure there isn’t a suspicion out there that I’m some kind of misogynist or other brand of weirdo.

Pike did take my comment completely within context, btw, but in case anyone’s curious, it was fully tongue-in-cheek. Let me explain…

For many years, I was first a moderator, then a manager, and finally a senior manager of the forums at IGN‘s Vault Network.

A common reply to almost any type of statement or claim on the Vault boards is "Pics or it didn’t happen." (That may well be endemic throughout teh intarwebz; VNBoards is just the biggest independent gaming community in the English-writing world, and that’s where my experience stems.) Now one thing that the more adult Vault members recognize (after realizing they–the adults–are in the minority ) is that there are a LOT more women on the web, and playing games, from shooters to strategy to MMOs such as WoW.

Case in point: My Guild Leader is also one of my closest friends in the world. We met while playing Asheron’s Call, have stayed at each other’s homes, have shared good times and bad. She’s also quite female, a happily married and well-adjusted mother of two, and is proud to claim to be every bit as geeky as any guy. (She’s way geekier than I, that’s for sure! But then…she’s only a couple years older than my oldest son.)

So, when I read Girl Meets WoW‘s "About Me" blurb, which claims there really are girls on the internet, I had to make my smart-alecky comment.

Finally, I want to thank both GMW and Pike for taking my wisecrack in the spirit in which it was intended. And thank Elune there ARE gurlz on teh intarwebz!!