3 ms·

chris poole offered a strategic answer to this question in 2010: https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_moot_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online https://www.ted.

chris poole offered a strategic answer to this question in 2010: https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_moot_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_moot_poole_the_case_fo... terse: anonymity + ephemerality.

gipp 6y ago
And what a shining beacon for online communication the chans have been.
- falcolas 6y ago
  I beleive you're saying this sarcastically, but I personally think this is quite true. Most modern memes grew in the morass that are the 'chans, as have a lot of beneficial movements. Now, with the good has come the questionable and outright bad. Q-anon being only the latest example. The chans are the modern equivalent of city parks with their soapboxes. There is both good and bad, because speech on the 'chans is almost completely free. And, IMO, that's a good thing. I firmly believe that civilization in general would benefit from more truly free spaces online. Free and anonymous speech is one of the cornerstones that the US was founded upon, after all.
  - tlholaday 6y ago
    Free, anonymous, and ephemeral.
  - tomatotomato37 6y ago
    The surviving 'chans aren't really that free speech though, they just happen to take a laissez-faire stance on slurs; if you go post spam, illegal media, or plans to commit a public atrocity you're still going to get banned without a second thought. Hell, even stupid shit like using certain meme words or posting cartoon horses will still get you kicked out of a lot of the boards. Not to say any of that's a bad thing; in fact I'll say it's why the site is more of a culture factory than both the mainstreams Twitter/Reddit types and the alternatve Gab/Parler/whatevers
- chmod775 6y ago
  I'll take them over echo-chambers where extremist left/right stupidity can fester unchecked any day.
- pochamago 6y ago
  It's really wonderful not having any anxiety about what you're posting being tied to some kind of identity you have to maintain
- mensetmanusman 6y ago
  Ironically “the Chan’s” had a better pulse of America than the NYTs.

gipp 6y ago

And what a shining beacon for online communication the chans have been.

falcolas 6y ago
I beleive you're saying this sarcastically, but I personally think this is quite true. Most modern memes grew in the morass that are the 'chans, as have a lot of beneficial movements. Now, with the good has come the questionable and outright bad. Q-anon being only the latest example. The chans are the modern equivalent of city parks with their soapboxes. There is both good and bad, because speech on the 'chans is almost completely free. And, IMO, that's a good thing. I firmly believe that civilization in general would benefit from more truly free spaces online. Free and anonymous speech is one of the cornerstones that the US was founded upon, after all.
- tlholaday 6y ago
  Free, anonymous, and ephemeral.
- tomatotomato37 6y ago
  The surviving 'chans aren't really that free speech though, they just happen to take a laissez-faire stance on slurs; if you go post spam, illegal media, or plans to commit a public atrocity you're still going to get banned without a second thought. Hell, even stupid shit like using certain meme words or posting cartoon horses will still get you kicked out of a lot of the boards. Not to say any of that's a bad thing; in fact I'll say it's why the site is more of a culture factory than both the mainstreams Twitter/Reddit types and the alternatve Gab/Parler/whatevers
chmod775 6y ago
I'll take them over echo-chambers where extremist left/right stupidity can fester unchecked any day.
pochamago 6y ago
It's really wonderful not having any anxiety about what you're posting being tied to some kind of identity you have to maintain
mensetmanusman 6y ago
Ironically “the Chan’s” had a better pulse of America than the NYTs.