Opinions on 4chan and chan culture

[SomaSpice]

wojaks aren't from 4chan originally either.

Ah yeah, they're originally from some krautchan or something like that, right?

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

View attachment 76407
this reply on /g/ sums up my thoughts pretty well

anon forgot about sneed

 

[imnotdeadyet]

anon forgot about sneed

it would probably be a sneedjack all things considered

 

[imacop]

Late to the party but I discovered 4chan in 2004 as a freshman in college while also discovering the wonders of flash porn. I got addicted (to 4chan) and would check it constantly. It fed the incel in me

Thankfully I pulled away and relaxed out of the internet for awhile in 2007. 4chan was always edgy but in was increasingly so when I left, and it felt like just a bunch of kids trying to out-do each other in how racist they could be.

I distinctly remember in the photography board someone posting "the first thing I do when I use Image Capture in PS is... remove all blacks" and that's when I decided I was done. It was so try-hard edgelord and it seemed to be trending upward.

Similar to >reddit, 4chan at the time had a monoculture of tongue-in-cheek racism and forever-alone nerds. The question of "anon" being a schizophrenic single hive mind was part of the appeal and fostered a sense of community. However, the tongue started poking through the cheek and all that was left was racist shitposting.

I don't regret experiencing 4chan because it helped answer the question of "where's the pit of the internet" and "how deep can you go," at least for me at the time. I do regret the amount of time I spent there, and wish I had spent that time getting rejected by women to my face instead of just assuming.

 

[imacop]

P.S. If you're like me and you missed out on all the 2016 insanity, there's a documentary on QAnon on HBO Max which dives into the drama behind 8chan/kun. I thought it was really well done and worth a watch.

 

[imnotdeadyet]

I don't regret experiencing 4chan because it helped answer the question of "where's the pit of the internet" and "how deep can you go," at least for me at the time.

There are definitely worse places then 4chan, especially now when it's lurked and jannied by actual redditors more often than not. I laugh when people tell me that 4chan is this scary internet boogieman in 2023, back then anyone saying it would arguably have a point but not now. Certain boards at times can be a good diet preview of the extreme shit that can be found online though.

 

[Some_porcupine]

There are definitely worse places then 4chan, especially now when it's lurked and jannied by actual redditors more often than not. I laugh when people tell me that 4chan is this scary internet boogieman in 2023, back then anyone saying it would arguably have a point but not now. Certain boards at times can be a good diet preview of the extreme shit that can be found online though.

2000s-mid 2010s tho, stories
Punk(s) is dead, too (not real punks anymore)

 

[Some_porcupine]

2000s-mid 2010s tho, stories
Punk(s) is dead, too (not real punks anymore)

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

What I find really fascinating about 4chan is that even if the quality of posts isn't what it once was, it still is on the cutting edge of culture. I was seeing them talk all about BlackRock's influence as far back as 2020, and now everyone is aware of it (by proxy of people like Joe Rogan spreading awareness if I had to guess.) There's some other stuff too, but point is I almost feel like going back on to lurk for a bit because it's like getting spoiler alerts for society and governance for the next couple of years at times.

P.S. If you're like me and you missed out on all the 2016 insanity, there's a documentary on QAnon on HBO Max which dives into the drama behind 8chan/kun. I thought it was really well done and worth a watch.

I really enjoyed that as well, impressive that Ron Watkins was able to have people by the balls with that LARP, dude could've at any point directed a ton of people as if they were sleeper cell agents. Q posts are all but dead now right?

Funny story about hotwheels tho, not sure if I've shared it before, but one of my irl friends knew someone who claimed to have met/known Fredrick Brennan in person. Hotwheels was on a "date" with some chick with a disability fetish, but this guy just ended up fucking her instead lul. This would've been pre-2017 if memory serves correct.

 

[imacop]

Hotwheels was on a "date" with some chick with a disability fetish, but this guy just ended up fucking her instead lul.

bummer, I was rooting for Fred, especially after I learned he was a typographer (I am a graphic designer)

 

[LambdaPoster]

By this point in my life I view chan culture with a bit of contempt, I by no means consider it "The cesspool of the internet", but I believe it has lost its cool and that continuously exposing oneself to the misanthropic edge it seeks to maintain is generally harmful to one's personal character, regardless of political views.

Its not so bad if you stay off of red boards, /fit/ still has moments of brilliance, /fa/ has some good conversations, and /out/ still has the same decade old generals kicking around. Granted, many boards have gone down the drain and been colonized by the mainstream internet. /out/ has a trans moderator, and any posts about trans people get deleted, with the user temp banned, even if it is related to outdoors content, and /n/ actually doesn't allow slurs. Its not in the rules but your post will be deleted for it.

 

[JihyoParkXX]

Been browsing /bant/ lately, it's a red board but I find it comfy :3
It's a slow board so there's less people, unlike /int/ where there's too many of them with the languages all over the place and there's hardly any porn there compared to /b/, yuck that's one nasty place. The kpop general there are just dudes talking about their day while posting cute girls.

 

[imnotdeadyet]

What I find really fascinating about 4chan is that even if the quality of posts isn't what it once was, it still is on the cutting edge of culture. I was seeing them talk all about BlackRock's influence as far back as 2020, and now everyone is aware of it (by proxy of people like Joe Rogan spreading awareness if I had to guess.) There's some other stuff too, but point is I almost feel like going back on to lurk for a bit because it's like getting spoiler alerts for society and governance for the next couple of years at times.

Thinking back 4chan was always been very influential regarding culture, especially internet culture. Some even say that pretty much all old school internet culture was born on 4chan. With internet being so intertwined with real life now it's not surprising that 4chan now influences real life to such a degree too. I think many people and probably even corpos and other important entities lurk or have someone lurk it for them, way more then would admit.

 

[remember_summer_days]

View attachment 76407
this reply on /g/ sums up my thoughts pretty well

Honestly, kinda wish the same artist or something in that style got made for 2023 4chan. By that style I mean ignore the wojacks and cringe memes, but add drawings/characters celebrating the culture of each board. Would've been pretty comfy.

We didn't get anything for the 20th anniversary right? Besides the party hats in the OPs, I don't think anything especial happened at all...

 

[LambdaPoster]

We didn't get anything for the 20th anniversary right? Besides the party hats in the OPs, I don't think anything especial happened at all...

The guy who used to do the MSpaint drawings with board characters probably has a family now.

 

[remember_summer_days]

The guy who used to do the MSpaint drawings with board characters probably has a family now.

Get an AI to do it instead

 

[Some_porcupine]

probably

idk XD

 

[imacop]

Some even say that pretty much all old school internet culture was born on 4chan.

4chan was preceded by SomethingAwful, where a lot of content originated. I never joined because it cost money and I was a teen without any

Channers would say there was never any OC, every post was a repost

 

[imnotdeadyet]

We didn't get anything for the 20th anniversary right? Besides the party hats in the OPs, I don't think anything especial happened at all...

We got a commissioned piece for 4chins birthday but that's about it. https://4chan.org/4channews.php

 

[Some_porcupine]

mild-rel

View: https://youtu.be/W-DP9BL6NVM