gatekeeping
Explanation
The Joke
The comic is titled "Funtime Activity: Gatekeeping About Gatekeeping." An older man with glasses lectures a group of younger people, saying: "Pfft. You kids are telling people they're not true gamers? I've been telling people they're not true gamers for twenty years."
The joke is a perfect self-referential loop. Gatekeeping -- the practice of deciding who does or does not belong to a particular community or identity -- has become a widely criticized behavior, especially in gaming culture. The older man is gatekeeping the very act of gatekeeping itself, claiming that the younger generation are not authentic gatekeepers because he has been doing it longer. He applies the exact exclusionary logic he is known for to the act of exclusion itself.
The Humor
The humor lies in the recursive absurdity: the man cannot help but gatekeep, even when the subject is gatekeeping. It satirizes how deeply ingrained the impulse is for certain people in nerd/gamer culture to establish hierarchies of authenticity. The title "Funtime Activity" adds an extra layer of irony, framing this toxic behavior as a lighthearted pastime. The comic also pokes fun at generational dynamics within fandoms, where older fans sometimes feel superior to newer ones simply by virtue of having been around longer -- which is itself a form of gatekeeping.