4 ms·
> 4chan is about as mainstream as it gets. 4chan certainly isn't mainstream. Being somewhat well-trafficked != mainstream. > Being edgy and racist isn't count
by tivert 3y ago
> 4chan is about as mainstream as it gets.
4chan certainly isn't mainstream. Being somewhat well-trafficked != mainstream.
> Being edgy and racist isn't countercultural, certainly not nowadays.
That's just so obviously wrong, it's hard to know where to start. I mean, pretty much the entire media and business apparatus of the country spends a lot of effort loudly condemning those things. You might have the arrived at the wrong impression because those groups have the goal of achieving something close to total extermination of those things, so counter-productively give even small instances massive amounts of attention.
- ceejayoz 3y ago> I mean, pretty much the entire media and business apparatus of the country spends a lot of effort loudly condemning those things. ... and it's widely claimed by many that they're out of touch with Real American culture for doing so. There's no easy, solid definition here. Disney and DeSantis are fighting over culture hot potatoes; which one is "establishment" and which one is "counter-culture" in that fight? (Neither, really. Both are establishment, and both are a little counter-cultural.) 4chan has become a lot less shocking than it used to be. That's a bit of a cultural shift in its direction.
- tivert 3y ago> ... and it's widely claimed by many that they're out of touch with Real American culture for doing so. Which does not in any way translate into 4chan-style "edgy and racist" being in any way mainstream, let alone "as mainstream as it gets."
- ceejayoz 3y agoNo, for that you've gotta go a little further, to things like Congressmen using the term "colored people" on the House floor. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-eli-crane-refers-black-americans-colored-people-house-floor-rcna94200 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-eli-crane-refe...
- tivert 3y agoSorry, but I think you're confused about what "mainstream" is. Some congressional back-bencher saying something controversial, which we walked back and was then immediately stricken from the record is not proof a thing is mainstream. In fact, it's proof that it's not. And we're talking about 4chan here, and wouldn't they just use the n-word?
- watwut 3y agoThere is also whole media apparatus and leaders of political party dedicated to promoting racism and "edgy" stuff. They even claim themselves to be the only real Americans.