The Phrase Heard Around the Web

Yes, this is a blog post about the PSN outage. If you don't want to read anymore about this, please press your back button or click a link on N4G.com to somewhere else.

What I will be addressing in this article, though, is the effect that a single statement has on the Internet. And that statement is:

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"77 million credit cards and personal information was stolen from Sony"

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Now, if you've been around this week on N4G.com, you are very familiar with these words and the many variations of them posted here. But, do you understand what this phrase means to the future of discussions on N4G.com and similar forums?

PART ONE: IS IT A VALID STATEMENT?

No, it's not.

First, it's not 77 million individual users, but every single account created of which there may be more than one per user. I myself have three. My main in North America, one in Hong Kong, and one in the UK. Why do I have multiple accounts? Sometimes free content is limited by region, such as the Afrika dynamic wallpaper was free and only available for a period of time in Japan.

Second, even Sony confirmed that they only stored 10 million credit cards on their system and this information was all encrypted.

Third, and most importantly, there is no proof on what data was or wasn't taken. None whatsoever.

PART TWO: WHY IS IT BEING SAID?

It's a reaction for one or more reasons to the Sony PSN attack and following downtime.

People are afraid of what this means. They're afraid of the possibility of their info being vulnerable. Sure, if they've ever used a credit card online, they've always been vulnerable. But, the instance of a moment that brings to light the chance of this sort of vulnerability is like a kick to the gut for many.

For others, it's an arguing point. The point being that Sony isn't good or that someone else is better. That seems petty, but this is the Internet we're talking about here. If you're not aware of the uses of the failures of one company over another, you must be new to N4G.com and similar gaming forums. Don't worry, it won't take long for you to see it.

PART THREE: WHAT CAN I DO?

Ignore it and don't respond to it. The only reason this phrase is even brought up is to get a reaction out of others. If you ignore it, if you don't respond to it, they will stop using it. It will lose its power and the people who use it will move onto something else.

Even if you respond with logic, you are giving power to this phrase. The power that you need to respond to the invalid elements of it and the power that someone gets over seeing you respond to it at all.

And, yes, the need for this response is even more petty than the statement itself.

PART FOUR: ARE THERE OTHER STATEMENTS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Most undoubtedly. There are hundreds just related to gaming, and they will continue to come.

Here are a few:

- 54% Failure Rate!
- No games!
- No exclusives!
- Just for casuals!

These are statements thrown about every day on N4G.com in one way or another, statements with a point of getting people to respond to them when no response is needed. Statements looking for one thing, and that is someone there to argue the points even though only one side is actually arguing while the other is sitting there, gleeful that they've evoked the desired response to their attempt at trolling.

People complain about the community here, but you should realize that the reason we have so many issues is because many of us respond to them when we should just ignore them and move onto other topics.