You live in an ordinary small town. Nothing much to do except scroll on the internet all day— Until your best friend, a cosplayer, gets caught up in a classic “negative blow-up” and has her life turned upside down.
To protect your friend, you take on the responsibility of trying to find the culprits behind all of this. However, you soon realize there is more to this than you could ever imagine……
made with ren’py and hosted on itch (playable in web)
“Every show of support and every word sent has an impact.”
You Have A Notification! is a visual novel about sexual harassment and misogyny in online spaces, especially on social media. Through presenting realistic situations based on real-life events and online behavior, this game hopes to raise awareness of this growing problem and explain what ordinary internet users can do to help: show empathy, consider consequences, and take action.
You Have A Notification! was created entirely by @/idohtdraw on Instagram in her senior year of high school.
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Game Mission Statement: To clearly present the negative impact of sexual harassment and misogyny online to the affected victims and the health of society as a whole.
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According to the United Nations, in 2022, 38% of women in 51 countries experienced online sexual harassment or violence. Pew Research Center’s 2020 research shows that sexual violence against women online is more severe, with 33% of women under 35 having these experiences compared to 11% of men. 75% of the violence happened on social media, with women 13% more likely to have experienced violence on social media. Norton’s 2017 report also shows that 46% of Japanese women have experienced online sexual harassment.
All of this clearly shows: Sexual harassment and violence not only happens online, but is increasingly common online.
Online discussion on social media has always had a big impact on sexual violence cases. Since #MeToo happened in 2017, social media has become an important way for victims to have their voices heard. According to Facebook, after the initial #MeToo discussions, over 50% of users in the US personally know someone who has experienced sexual harassment or violence.
However, social media also spreads this harassment and misogyny. In the sexual abuse case of Ito Shiori (伊藤詩織) in 2017, many influential people posted on Twitter (now X) against her. One notable case is manga artist はすみとしこ, who claims Ito Shiori “used her body for work opportunities” on her account, garnering more than 7,000 reposts and 18,000 likes. A staggering 30,000 similar harmful posts were found in further investigations.
Ito Shiori’s case isn’t an anomaly. According to Pew Research Center’s 2022 research, 21% of US people studied were strongly against #MeToo. 14% believe women who speak about their experiences are only looking for money and fame, and 16% think most sexual harassment cases are situations the woman harassed should bear responsibility for.
The problem of misogyny’s spread in online spaces has become increasingly serious in 2025. The word “Manosphere” was coined, meaning an online community that claims to address modern male problems in dating, fitness, or fatherhood, but are “united by an opposition to feminism and misrepresent men as “victims” of the current social and political climate”, according to the United Nations Secretary General’s report on violence against women and girls.
The spread of this extreme ideology has been prominent among young men. Two-thirds of young men regularly engage with masculinity influencers online, according to the Movember Foundation, and young men are more likely to hold regressive ideas about gender roles than older men. The popularity of the extreme ideas of the Manosphere not only perpetuates violence against women, links to radical and extremist beliefs, but also harms men who believe in the ideas the Manosphere teaches. Movember’s survey showed that men who regularly consumed content from manosphere influencers reported higher levels of worthlessness and nervousness, and were less likely to prioritize their mental health.
Misogyny is spreading through social media. It is time for us to reevaluate how we should interact with it and how it should be regulated.
Additional reading: https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/what-is-the-manosphere-and-why-should-we-care
Lyn is your best friend. She stayed in the town you grew up together in— she used to work at the bakery, but quit and is now a full-time cosplayer.
creator’s notes: Lyn was designed to highlight how sometimes, gender discourse is brought up even though the situation may not be related to gender at all. Lyn went viral because she punched her ex-boss, who stalked her— it shouldn’t be seen as an example of “hysterical feminism” at all.
Lyn’s job as a cosplayer also addresses the common idea of “if someone shows their body online, they are okay with/should deserve harassment over it”. Society continues to view attractive women showing their bodies as “not respectable” when men are praised. Cosplay, as a commonly fetishized field of creativity, is often targeted.
(Even though there are cosplays made for sexual purposes, not all cosplayers are like this. The generalization and the assumption “everything is made for a certain gaze” is the problem.)