4 ms·

I have no clue wtf moot is thinking with this. Apart from anonymity, the whole approach of piggybacking on facebook and using an invite-based membership system

I have no clue wtf moot is thinking with this. Apart from anonymity, the whole approach of piggybacking on facebook and using an invite-based membership system seems completely antithetical to the uniquely open and no barriers to entry nature of his well-known imageboard.

Swizec 16y ago
I think that was the point. There's a time and place for anonymity and it's called 4chan. You will especially understand this move of his if you listen to his TED talk and some other things that he has said/written over the years. Namely that anonymity brings with it complete and utter nonmonetizability ... from what I've heard he has [some] porn advertisers avoiding him because of 4chan's reputation and their not wanting to be associated with such a website. (just imagine what some more reputable advertisers think)
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  Canv.as is still anonymous. You just have to log in via Facebook.
  - JeremyBanks 16y ago
    More than that, the wording on their signup page suggests that this is only in effect during the beta. It seems a reasonable way to keep people from spamming accounts, particularly given the association with 4chan. During the beta period we are using Facebook Connect to validate users and handle invitations. Canvas will not display your photo or information anywhere on the site and we will only store your email address.
  - Swizec 16y ago
    It's still different, as a 4chan user myself I know for a fact I wouldn't get up to the same antics if the site had my email on record.
    - steveklabnik 16y ago
      Yeah, but... that's kinda the point, right? If moot wanted to make another /b/, he'd just add on another board, like he did recently with /soc/.
      - anonymoushn 16y ago
        4chan has been heavily moderated as of late. Successful trolling, any mention of any news article, any picture of people who appear characteristically Jewish or Muslim, any racist imagery, or using the word "jew" will now reliably result in a ban. Edit: Many rules that have existed for years but were never enforced are now being enforced. Extremely off-topic posting or posting NSFW imagery along with an on-topic reply will also get you banned.
        steveklabnik 16y ago
        It's been a week or two since I've been on /b/... is this just happening, or did it happen out of the blue? Maybe Snacks is back?
- mycroftiv 16y ago
  Well, this is a topic I feel very strongly about, and in some ways there is a bizarre circularity to discussing this on HN for me. I'll try to provide some context. I started out BBSing as a kid in the 80s, usenetting in the 90s, and I felt post '00 that the dominance of the www seemed to be fragmenting and destroying the feeling of specialness that digital communities possessed. Discovering 4chan in 2005 triggered a flash of recognition, a sense of "aha! this is where the creative spirit of Ye Olde Nettes is!" I've always thought the absence of personal ego and freedom of expression of 4chan at its best represents a higher ideal than voting-based communities, and paradoxically enables richer self-expression than the banalities of myspace and facebook. For years I held myself aloof from other online communities, reading them, but always reserving my participation for 4chan. Last year I finally broke down, and my very first contribution to HN discussion was to vent my frustration with the idea of making facebook accounts a prerequisite to the use of other sites! tl; dr - Long time 4chan user finally compromises his internet ideals to join HN just to complain about sites piggybacking on Facebook. A few months later, moot makes use of his new site dependent on Facebook.

Swizec 16y ago

I think that was the point. There's a time and place for anonymity and it's called 4chan. You will especially understand this move of his if you listen to his TED talk and some other things that he has said/written over the years. Namely that anonymity brings with it complete and utter nonmonetizability ... from what I've heard he has [some] porn advertisers avoiding him because of 4chan's reputation and their not wanting to be associated with such a website. (just imagine what some more reputable advertisers think)

steveklabnik 16y ago
Canv.as is still anonymous. You just have to log in via Facebook.
- JeremyBanks 16y ago
  More than that, the wording on their signup page suggests that this is only in effect during the beta. It seems a reasonable way to keep people from spamming accounts, particularly given the association with 4chan. During the beta period we are using Facebook Connect to validate users and handle invitations. Canvas will not display your photo or information anywhere on the site and we will only store your email address.
- Swizec 16y ago
  It's still different, as a 4chan user myself I know for a fact I wouldn't get up to the same antics if the site had my email on record.
  - steveklabnik 16y ago
    Yeah, but... that's kinda the point, right? If moot wanted to make another /b/, he'd just add on another board, like he did recently with /soc/.
    - anonymoushn 16y ago
      4chan has been heavily moderated as of late. Successful trolling, any mention of any news article, any picture of people who appear characteristically Jewish or Muslim, any racist imagery, or using the word "jew" will now reliably result in a ban. Edit: Many rules that have existed for years but were never enforced are now being enforced. Extremely off-topic posting or posting NSFW imagery along with an on-topic reply will also get you banned.
      - steveklabnik 16y ago
        It's been a week or two since I've been on /b/... is this just happening, or did it happen out of the blue? Maybe Snacks is back?
mycroftiv 16y ago
Well, this is a topic I feel very strongly about, and in some ways there is a bizarre circularity to discussing this on HN for me. I'll try to provide some context. I started out BBSing as a kid in the 80s, usenetting in the 90s, and I felt post '00 that the dominance of the www seemed to be fragmenting and destroying the feeling of specialness that digital communities possessed. Discovering 4chan in 2005 triggered a flash of recognition, a sense of "aha! this is where the creative spirit of Ye Olde Nettes is!" I've always thought the absence of personal ego and freedom of expression of 4chan at its best represents a higher ideal than voting-based communities, and paradoxically enables richer self-expression than the banalities of myspace and facebook. For years I held myself aloof from other online communities, reading them, but always reserving my participation for 4chan. Last year I finally broke down, and my very first contribution to HN discussion was to vent my frustration with the idea of making facebook accounts a prerequisite to the use of other sites! tl; dr - Long time 4chan user finally compromises his internet ideals to join HN just to complain about sites piggybacking on Facebook. A few months later, moot makes use of his new site dependent on Facebook.