4 ms·

4chan will be studied for years for its role in alt-right radicalization as well as being a baroemeter for young male discontent. For example, QAnon started on

by jmyeet 2y ago

4chan will be studied for years for its role in alt-right radicalization as well as being a baroemeter for young male discontent. For example, QAnon started on 4chan (I believe as a joke?) [1]. Nowadays a lot of 4chan users and traffic have since migrated to Twitter for pretty obvious reasons. Pseudo-intellectual racism has a lot of roots in 4chan (eg the popularity of Julius Evola [2]) that's deeply tied to "trad" content, Andrew Tate fandom, the manosphere and "self-improvement" [3]. Things like the Bored Ape Yacht Club originated on 4chan and it's full of racist memes [4]. A lot of racist and antisemitic memes originated on 4chan. Worst of all, it seems like Elon Musk is motivated by a deep desire to be liked by 4chan [5]. So the point is that 4chan users (and admins) have a lot of real-world influence and that's kinda scary. It also makes them a target for this kind of hack. I suspect a lot of people will be exposed by this and in more than a few cases, you'll find ties to the current administration. [1]: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-three-conspiracy-theorists-took-q-sparked-qanon-n900531 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-three-conspiracy-... [2]: https://jacobin.com/2022/12/fascism-far-right-evola-bannon-bronze-age-pervert https://jacobin.com/2022/12/fascism-far-right-evola-bannon-b... [3]: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00732-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00732-x [4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpH3O6mnZvw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpH3O6mnZvw [5]: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/4/6/how-musk-ushered-4chan-into-us-politics https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/4/6/how-musk-ushered...

VectorLock 2y ago
I would be 0% surprised to see Stephen Miller's information in this leak.
- howmayiannoyyou 2y ago
  If you're looking for malign influence on 4chan - look outside the US. Anyone on /pol/ and /k/ after Oct 7th understands clearly who has been influencing if not controlling the site.
  - reverius42 2y ago
    I think it's the other way around; keen observers have noticed a 4chan influence on the US Government's policies.
properpopper 2y ago
For users who aren't familiar with 4chan - this post describes only one board - /pol/, where you can find hateful posts about every race and religion. 4chan have 30+ boards in total
- CodeCompost 2y ago
  Well that's OK then. /s
- wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
  To add context, every male in my high school went on that site. Pol was just a place crazy people posted. We used to laugh and read eachother dumb copypastas at lunch with gorgonzola cheese rhymes and bad puns. The average 15yo boy have enough mental hygiene to know everything you read online is false. The website is not a nazi factory.
  - Zr01 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - rescbr 2y ago
    > The average 15yo boy have enough mental hygiene to know everything you read online is false. The website is not a nazi factory. The real problem is when the internet leaks and boomers assume everything they read online is true. Worst part of it all? My parents always told me not to trust what's on the internet, and now I have to tell them 99% of what they see on FB or whatever is AI trash and lies.
  - Philpax 2y ago
    Hmm, I'm not sure all 15 year old boys do, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting
    - wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
      Do you remember when people thought first person shooters made people into murderers because the colombine guy played doom a lot and made a custom wad to simulate the attack? If a murderer eats omelettes every day we should ban eggs. Eggs turn people into murderers. Reminder some kids died jumping off buildings with umbrellas after Marry Poppins. Ban movies.
AgentME 2y ago
Many people will downplay this, saying that the alt-righters on 4chan were only trolls, or were only a few people sockpuppeting to make it look like there were many, or that these people were already alt-right and that 4chan didn't actually influence anyone into it (and that 4chan's userbase merely cycled out to a set of new alt-right users), but I have to say that's all wrong. I was in several different online communities 2010-2018 of people who met through 4chan, and a startling number of people did actually adopt alt-right politics over this timeframe after I had first met them. I think people who downplay how common radicalization on 4chan was didn't have as clear of a picture as this experience gave me.
Ferret7446 2y ago
Yes, QAnon is a joke, as was the white power hand sign and microwave charging iPhones, among hundreds of others. There is no "baby filter" on 4chan. You are solely responsible for believing and/or not being offended by anything. Well, that is true everywhere on the Web, but there is zero veneer of it on 4chan vs the partial safety bubbles you get on other sites.

by jmyeet 2y ago

VectorLock 2y ago

I would be 0% surprised to see Stephen Miller's information in this leak.

howmayiannoyyou 2y ago
If you're looking for malign influence on 4chan - look outside the US. Anyone on /pol/ and /k/ after Oct 7th understands clearly who has been influencing if not controlling the site.
- reverius42 2y ago
  I think it's the other way around; keen observers have noticed a 4chan influence on the US Government's policies.

properpopper 2y ago

For users who aren't familiar with 4chan - this post describes only one board - /pol/, where you can find hateful posts about every race and religion. 4chan have 30+ boards in total

CodeCompost 2y ago
Well that's OK then. /s
wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
To add context, every male in my high school went on that site. Pol was just a place crazy people posted. We used to laugh and read eachother dumb copypastas at lunch with gorgonzola cheese rhymes and bad puns. The average 15yo boy have enough mental hygiene to know everything you read online is false. The website is not a nazi factory.
- Zr01 2y ago
  [flagged]
- rescbr 2y ago
  > The average 15yo boy have enough mental hygiene to know everything you read online is false. The website is not a nazi factory. The real problem is when the internet leaks and boomers assume everything they read online is true. Worst part of it all? My parents always told me not to trust what's on the internet, and now I have to tell them 99% of what they see on FB or whatever is AI trash and lies.
- Philpax 2y ago
  Hmm, I'm not sure all 15 year old boys do, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting
  - wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
    Do you remember when people thought first person shooters made people into murderers because the colombine guy played doom a lot and made a custom wad to simulate the attack? If a murderer eats omelettes every day we should ban eggs. Eggs turn people into murderers. Reminder some kids died jumping off buildings with umbrellas after Marry Poppins. Ban movies.

AgentME 2y ago

Many people will downplay this, saying that the alt-righters on 4chan were only trolls, or were only a few people sockpuppeting to make it look like there were many, or that these people were already alt-right and that 4chan didn't actually influence anyone into it (and that 4chan's userbase merely cycled out to a set of new alt-right users), but I have to say that's all wrong. I was in several different online communities 2010-2018 of people who met through 4chan, and a startling number of people did actually adopt alt-right politics over this timeframe after I had first met them. I think people who downplay how common radicalization on 4chan was didn't have as clear of a picture as this experience gave me.

Ferret7446 2y ago

Yes, QAnon is a joke, as was the white power hand sign and microwave charging iPhones, among hundreds of others. There is no "baby filter" on 4chan. You are solely responsible for believing and/or not being offended by anything. Well, that is true everywhere on the Web, but there is zero veneer of it on 4chan vs the partial safety bubbles you get on other sites.