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I feel kinda silly just having spent the long weekend writing a threaded 4chan scraper. This is a super welcome change though. Even if you don't visit 4chan r

by afhof 14y ago

I feel kinda silly just having spent the long weekend writing a threaded 4chan scraper. This is a super welcome change though. Even if you don't visit 4chan regularly you can't ignore the VAST amount of content people upload there. I imagine some interesting statistics will come of this ( I know I plan to).

cs702 14y ago
Even if you don't visit 4chan regularly you can't ignore the VAST amount of content people upload there. I imagine some interesting statistics will come of this. That was my reaction too. Beyond statistics, this will make it easier to develop all sorts of user-facing and machine-to-machine applications -- for sharing, grouping, ranking, and linking items, and even for 'overlaying' the content on top of other social networks. I'd expect the API to be grow and mature over time, and am curious to see what comes out of this experiment.
phogster 14y ago
I don't know. Getting an API to 4chan is like getting a parking pass to the local garbage dump. What statistics are you actually mining here?
- nvmc 14y ago
  There is plenty of excellent content (consequently, statistics), you just have to look a little harder. I would hazard a guess that you've taken a quick glance and dismissed the entire community. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
  - TillE 14y ago
    Let me know when, say, /tg/ stops casually tossing around f-g and f-ggot while pretending that's not at all homophobic. Garbage dump is entirely appropriate. I have no idea how anyone older than 20 can tolerate 4chan.
    - nvmc 14y ago
      If you really think the use of fag and faggot reflects homophobia, you need to take a step back and look at where you are - the internet. Do you think that people posting gore do it because they enjoy the content? It's all shock value.
      - hollerith 14y ago
        (Not really interested in whether 4chan's use of "fag" reflects homophobia. I am responding to your next sentence.) >Do you think that people posting gore do it because they enjoy the content? I think there are those who post gore because they get pleasure from grossing people out, outraging people or otherwise eliciting a strong emotional reaction (which is probably what you mean by "shock value") but I do not think that is all of it. I think a significant fraction of the people posting gore do it because it will induce others to post gory pictures that the OP has not seen yet. And I think that they want that because they derive pleasure from seeing people and animals being harmed. One of the reason I believe that is a book I read called Among the Thugs, in which a reporter spent some time hanging out with British football hooligans. He reported that after running with the hooligans a while, engaging in violence and contemplating engaging in violence became pleasurable. This and other things suggest to me that many people are capable of deriving pleasure from seeing people get fucked up once they've acquired a taste for it. The main reservation I have about 4chan is that it seems to be enabling many to acquire a taste for it (and for other things like harassing people on Facebook).
        nvmc 14y ago
        At least when I still browsed /b/, gore was almost entirely to dissuade people from browsing. The logic being that if you couldn't get over it, you weren't all that welcome.
        davedx 14y ago
        So explain somethingawful.com and the many other sites dedicated to the posting of gore and gruesome deaths?
- evoxed 14y ago
  Coming from the country where needing a parking permit to the garbage dump is the norm (i.e. only way to get rid of your trash) and can actually be a desirable activity (I can't even tell you how many books, monitors, speakers, etc. I've either restored or recovered in perfect condition for no cost)... I can't wait!
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  Garbage dump? /b/ is bad, but 4chan as a whole has some pretty good content.
- afhof 14y ago
  4chan represents a social cauldron unlike others. The first and foremost question I had hoped to find out was "What do people talk about when they don't have an identity to think of?" There is almost zero consequence in the case of failure. If you say something and no one responds, or everyone insults you, it is completely forgotten within a few minutes. You can say almost anything you want without fear of retribution. (Where else in life does this exist?) So, with no rules, what do people want to talk about?
  - daulex 14y ago
    I understand what you're saying. BUT, be careful with the concept of 4chan and "no retribution". There have been countless examples of 4chan "reacting" to threads, I'm sure I don't need to go into detail here.
- JackpotDen 14y ago
  What kinds of things people throw away.

by afhof 14y ago

cs702 14y ago

Even if you don't visit 4chan regularly you can't ignore the VAST amount of content people upload there. I imagine some interesting statistics will come of this. That was my reaction too. Beyond statistics, this will make it easier to develop all sorts of user-facing and machine-to-machine applications -- for sharing, grouping, ranking, and linking items, and even for 'overlaying' the content on top of other social networks. I'd expect the API to be grow and mature over time, and am curious to see what comes out of this experiment.

phogster 14y ago

I don't know. Getting an API to 4chan is like getting a parking pass to the local garbage dump. What statistics are you actually mining here?

nvmc 14y ago
There is plenty of excellent content (consequently, statistics), you just have to look a little harder. I would hazard a guess that you've taken a quick glance and dismissed the entire community. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
- TillE 14y ago
  Let me know when, say, /tg/ stops casually tossing around f-g and f-ggot while pretending that's not at all homophobic. Garbage dump is entirely appropriate. I have no idea how anyone older than 20 can tolerate 4chan.
  - nvmc 14y ago
    If you really think the use of fag and faggot reflects homophobia, you need to take a step back and look at where you are - the internet. Do you think that people posting gore do it because they enjoy the content? It's all shock value.
    - hollerith 14y ago
      (Not really interested in whether 4chan's use of "fag" reflects homophobia. I am responding to your next sentence.) >Do you think that people posting gore do it because they enjoy the content? I think there are those who post gore because they get pleasure from grossing people out, outraging people or otherwise eliciting a strong emotional reaction (which is probably what you mean by "shock value") but I do not think that is all of it. I think a significant fraction of the people posting gore do it because it will induce others to post gory pictures that the OP has not seen yet. And I think that they want that because they derive pleasure from seeing people and animals being harmed. One of the reason I believe that is a book I read called Among the Thugs, in which a reporter spent some time hanging out with British football hooligans. He reported that after running with the hooligans a while, engaging in violence and contemplating engaging in violence became pleasurable. This and other things suggest to me that many people are capable of deriving pleasure from seeing people get fucked up once they've acquired a taste for it. The main reservation I have about 4chan is that it seems to be enabling many to acquire a taste for it (and for other things like harassing people on Facebook).
      - nvmc 14y ago
        At least when I still browsed /b/, gore was almost entirely to dissuade people from browsing. The logic being that if you couldn't get over it, you weren't all that welcome.
        davedx 14y ago
        So explain somethingawful.com and the many other sites dedicated to the posting of gore and gruesome deaths?
evoxed 14y ago
Coming from the country where needing a parking permit to the garbage dump is the norm (i.e. only way to get rid of your trash) and can actually be a desirable activity (I can't even tell you how many books, monitors, speakers, etc. I've either restored or recovered in perfect condition for no cost)... I can't wait!
TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
Garbage dump? /b/ is bad, but 4chan as a whole has some pretty good content.
afhof 14y ago
4chan represents a social cauldron unlike others. The first and foremost question I had hoped to find out was "What do people talk about when they don't have an identity to think of?" There is almost zero consequence in the case of failure. If you say something and no one responds, or everyone insults you, it is completely forgotten within a few minutes. You can say almost anything you want without fear of retribution. (Where else in life does this exist?) So, with no rules, what do people want to talk about?
- daulex 14y ago
  I understand what you're saying. BUT, be careful with the concept of 4chan and "no retribution". There have been countless examples of 4chan "reacting" to threads, I'm sure I don't need to go into detail here.
JackpotDen 14y ago
What kinds of things people throw away.