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I am very curious of 4Chan's "Anonymous" userbase. Most community structures have identifiable leaderships of some kind yet 4Chan has no usernames and no way o

by dotBen 16y ago

I am very curious of 4Chan's "Anonymous" userbase. Most community structures have identifiable leaderships of some kind yet 4Chan has no usernames and no way of communicating provenance of a given user -- either in terms of reflecting reputation or simply being able to accurately know that two posts in a thread were by the same person/the OP/etc. Hoaxes and stunts like this (if this is true) are either truly, truly remarkable or the work of a closer sub-set of folks who are in more private inter-communication away from 4Chan for the purposes of coordination but represent themselves to be part of the massive 4Chan community, perhaps for plausible deniability more than anything. It also makes wonderful fodder for the media to make even more of a FUD story out of. Given that most of 4Chan does seem to be bored teenagers posting pornography, penis jokes and occasionally child pornography I'm inclined to believe it is the latter.

throwawy18291 16y ago
#bantown definitely no longer exists.
enjo 16y ago
I've always viewed 4Chan as a remarkable study in how quickly (and easily) mobs can form. They do, for the most part, coordinate in relative anonimity. The typical 'operation' involves someone thinking up a nefarious scheme and posting it. The mob then kicks into gear and executes it. All it really takes is a single post and something to rally the groupthink of the mob around. The recent bit with the rage-face T-Shirt where they convinced whoever was making it that it wasn't rage-face, but rather a racist meme. It was triggered by a single post and was incredibly effective (and creative actually). http://play-this.org/2010/11/operation-black-rage-4chans-army-tricks-hot-topic/ http://play-this.org/2010/11/operation-black-rage-4chans-arm... It's amazing what a link-minded mob can do really.
steveklabnik 16y ago
Often, people will organize an IRC channel somewhere if they want to actually work on something together, and it'll be announced in a post on /b/. > Given that most of 4Chan does seem to be... /b/ is much more complex than you're giving it credit for.
cmelbye 16y ago
Actually, there is such a concept as usernames on 4chan. I forget what they call them, but using a special syntax in the username field that includes a password of your choosing, the resulting post will look slightly different and have a hash next to your username that will always be the same for all of your posts. Of course, it's completely optional and most users opt for anonymity.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  "tripcodes". NSFW: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Tripcode http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Tripcode > It works like this: In the name field, type a name, followed by #, followed by a password (or phrase, whatever). Then send a message as usual. You'll then see your name, followed by said 'gook. You should then promptly close your browser and GTFO the internets for wanting recognition on an anonymous message board. They've been allowed and disallowed on /b/ at various points in time.
redthrowaway 16y ago
Nothing is ever organized on /b/. It's organized on RSC, 711chan, 888chan before r3x archived it, or, most commonly, on IRC/tinychat/whatever. /i/nsurgents view /b/ with derision, and /b/ is only ever brought into the mix if numbers are needed, usually for a DDoS or forum raid. Partyvan.info and insurgen.cc used to be fairly active raid wikis, but insurgen.cc went down shortly before 888 was archived, and partyvan doesn't look to be too current anymore. You just can't get anything done on /b/. At all. edit: Actually, it looks like insurgen.cc is back up.

by dotBen 16y ago

throwawy18291 16y ago

#bantown definitely no longer exists.

enjo 16y ago

I've always viewed 4Chan as a remarkable study in how quickly (and easily) mobs can form. They do, for the most part, coordinate in relative anonimity. The typical 'operation' involves someone thinking up a nefarious scheme and posting it. The mob then kicks into gear and executes it. All it really takes is a single post and something to rally the groupthink of the mob around. The recent bit with the rage-face T-Shirt where they convinced whoever was making it that it wasn't rage-face, but rather a racist meme. It was triggered by a single post and was incredibly effective (and creative actually). http://play-this.org/2010/11/operation-black-rage-4chans-army-tricks-hot-topic/ http://play-this.org/2010/11/operation-black-rage-4chans-arm... It's amazing what a link-minded mob can do really.

steveklabnik 16y ago

Often, people will organize an IRC channel somewhere if they want to actually work on something together, and it'll be announced in a post on /b/. > Given that most of 4Chan does seem to be... /b/ is much more complex than you're giving it credit for.

cmelbye 16y ago

Actually, there is such a concept as usernames on 4chan. I forget what they call them, but using a special syntax in the username field that includes a password of your choosing, the resulting post will look slightly different and have a hash next to your username that will always be the same for all of your posts. Of course, it's completely optional and most users opt for anonymity.

steveklabnik 16y ago
"tripcodes". NSFW: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Tripcode http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Tripcode > It works like this: In the name field, type a name, followed by #, followed by a password (or phrase, whatever). Then send a message as usual. You'll then see your name, followed by said 'gook. You should then promptly close your browser and GTFO the internets for wanting recognition on an anonymous message board. They've been allowed and disallowed on /b/ at various points in time.

redthrowaway 16y ago

Nothing is ever organized on /b/. It's organized on RSC, 711chan, 888chan before r3x archived it, or, most commonly, on IRC/tinychat/whatever. /i/nsurgents view /b/ with derision, and /b/ is only ever brought into the mix if numbers are needed, usually for a DDoS or forum raid. Partyvan.info and insurgen.cc used to be fairly active raid wikis, but insurgen.cc went down shortly before 888 was archived, and partyvan doesn't look to be too current anymore. You just can't get anything done on /b/. At all. edit: Actually, it looks like insurgen.cc is back up.