3 ms·

It's pretty bizarre how 4chan of all places turned out to be the cultural epicenter of this generation. All these meme pages are just reposting content from th

It's pretty bizarre how 4chan of all places turned out to be the cultural epicenter of this generation. All these meme pages are just reposting content from there.

cjslep 10y ago
Not sure why you were downvoted. Something Awful, while incredibly influential early on, didn't really grow because of the paid nature of the forums. 4chan exploded because of the anonymous nature of the memes. They were funny, and they weren't tied to the creator to boost his or her internet points. They are pure ideas coming from the level playing field that is Anonymous. Awful and great stuff arose out of it when its biggest competitor was flash-based stuff from ebaumsworld, funnyjunk, black sheep, and newgrounds. Now I'd say Reddit is a huge influencer but it is fragmented (as opposed to a single /b/) and still tied to internet points. And missing the pink babies from Something Awful.
- Waterluvian 10y ago
  There is something beautiful about how pure the content on 4chan is because there's no e peen.
  - sotojuan 10y ago
    And people who try to build an identity are almost always disliked (though the ones that persevere make the site more fun).
    - meowface 10y ago
      Depends what you consider "fun". A so-called namefag posting in a thread out of the blue can completely derail it merely by their presence.
  - noobermin 10y ago
    Unfortunately, the ephemeral nature does have its downsides. It guarantees that most of the posts will be short, stupid reposts of old content. However, you can't have true anonymity without the limited lifetime of posts. Also, it accelerates natural selection. Garbage memes won't make it to the next thread.
sotojuan 10y ago
And of course, by the time it's on Facebook and "regular teens" use it, it's as far removed from 4chan as HN is. Post one of these memes there and you'll get flamed for being a "normalfag".
- skylan_q 10y ago
  tired: I CAN HAZ CHEEZBURGER wired: #dicksout for Harambe
skylan_q 10y ago
anonymity fosters honesty honesty fosters new art
niftich 10y ago
4chan, or more specifically, /b/, moves fast and several mechanisms (like the 150-image limit per thread) are in place to keep it that way. The limited lifetime and ephemerality of content encourages people to save things they find good, to be reposted later and frequently for others to see. Therefore the /b/ experience, although often trashy at best, vulgar and hateful at worst, does allow good content to organically bubble to the top, and not just by absent-mindedly clicking the 'reblog'/'retweet'/'share' button, but by individuals uploading the same saved image or composing a derivative work. It's the internet equivalent of one-off barroom quips, of graffiti in bathroom stalls, of spray paint tags on urban blight. It's us humans at some of our best, and some of our worst.
- pdkl95 10y ago
  > The limited lifetime and ephemerality of content While I love[1] the idea of having a place for ephemeral anonymous communicationj, that may have been only a local feature. As Jason Scott said[2], "You're like, 'No one notices if I post on 4chan.' [...] I have ten million archived threads of 4chan, for five years." I'm sure that number has grown in the years since he said that. 4chan only seems ephemeral. [1] I totally agree about /b/ (and the rest of 4chan) being raw unfiltered humanity; it's a lot of junk, a few examples of humanity at its worst, and a handful of creative gems. A majority, I think, is simply people trying to express themselves in new ways. We need a place for that kind of free experimentation. [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq70QKa7588#t=545 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq70QKa7588#t=545
  - meowface 10y ago
    Archives of individual 4chan boards are also growing more in demand. The more niche boards seem to like being able to search through past discussions. It's extremely useful for finding new artists via /mu/, for example.

It's pretty bizarre how 4chan of all places turned out to be the cultural epicenter of this generation. All these meme pages are just reposting content from there.

cjslep 10y ago

Not sure why you were downvoted. Something Awful, while incredibly influential early on, didn't really grow because of the paid nature of the forums. 4chan exploded because of the anonymous nature of the memes. They were funny, and they weren't tied to the creator to boost his or her internet points. They are pure ideas coming from the level playing field that is Anonymous. Awful and great stuff arose out of it when its biggest competitor was flash-based stuff from ebaumsworld, funnyjunk, black sheep, and newgrounds. Now I'd say Reddit is a huge influencer but it is fragmented (as opposed to a single /b/) and still tied to internet points. And missing the pink babies from Something Awful.

Waterluvian 10y ago
There is something beautiful about how pure the content on 4chan is because there's no e peen.
- sotojuan 10y ago
  And people who try to build an identity are almost always disliked (though the ones that persevere make the site more fun).
  - meowface 10y ago
    Depends what you consider "fun". A so-called namefag posting in a thread out of the blue can completely derail it merely by their presence.
- noobermin 10y ago
  Unfortunately, the ephemeral nature does have its downsides. It guarantees that most of the posts will be short, stupid reposts of old content. However, you can't have true anonymity without the limited lifetime of posts. Also, it accelerates natural selection. Garbage memes won't make it to the next thread.

sotojuan 10y ago

And of course, by the time it's on Facebook and "regular teens" use it, it's as far removed from 4chan as HN is. Post one of these memes there and you'll get flamed for being a "normalfag".

skylan_q 10y ago
tired: I CAN HAZ CHEEZBURGER wired: #dicksout for Harambe

skylan_q 10y ago

anonymity fosters honesty honesty fosters new art

niftich 10y ago

4chan, or more specifically, /b/, moves fast and several mechanisms (like the 150-image limit per thread) are in place to keep it that way. The limited lifetime and ephemerality of content encourages people to save things they find good, to be reposted later and frequently for others to see. Therefore the /b/ experience, although often trashy at best, vulgar and hateful at worst, does allow good content to organically bubble to the top, and not just by absent-mindedly clicking the 'reblog'/'retweet'/'share' button, but by individuals uploading the same saved image or composing a derivative work. It's the internet equivalent of one-off barroom quips, of graffiti in bathroom stalls, of spray paint tags on urban blight. It's us humans at some of our best, and some of our worst.

pdkl95 10y ago
> The limited lifetime and ephemerality of content While I love[1] the idea of having a place for ephemeral anonymous communicationj, that may have been only a local feature. As Jason Scott said[2], "You're like, 'No one notices if I post on 4chan.' [...] I have ten million archived threads of 4chan, for five years." I'm sure that number has grown in the years since he said that. 4chan only seems ephemeral. [1] I totally agree about /b/ (and the rest of 4chan) being raw unfiltered humanity; it's a lot of junk, a few examples of humanity at its worst, and a handful of creative gems. A majority, I think, is simply people trying to express themselves in new ways. We need a place for that kind of free experimentation. [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq70QKa7588#t=545 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq70QKa7588#t=545
- meowface 10y ago
  Archives of individual 4chan boards are also growing more in demand. The more niche boards seem to like being able to search through past discussions. It's extremely useful for finding new artists via /mu/, for example.