This is definitely a lot of what goes on today. Despite the anonymity, there's a metagaming, social signalling aspect that comes from adhering to the tropes and

This is definitely a lot of what goes on today. Despite the anonymity, there's a metagaming, social signalling aspect that comes from adhering to the tropes and catchphrases, being mean to newbies, displaying the mandatory -isms, playing up the bravado and machismo of a veteran, or for maximum trolling, roleplaying different people in sockpuppetry. I'd love a study that explores these motivations, of getting nameless credit and validation solely in one's own mind. In fact, in response, a different board, /s4s/ "shit 4chan says", was created to absorb some of this deliberate behavior. Despite that, /b/ is considerably more meta than it used to be, but most of it is due to market segmentation: there are specific sub-boards with their own distinct cultures that differ from those on /b/ and manage to be useful for information exchange. Posting on /b/ is very much a conscious choice on part of the author, and comes with all the risks and rewards: perhaps your content will be appreciated, perhaps it will be ridiculed. Perhaps you're inflaming actual people's passions, or perhaps you're being fooled.