4 ms·

I've heard a lot of stuff about 4chan, and this sure sounds important. But this post is literally the first thing I've ever read on the site. Should I even try

I've heard a lot of stuff about 4chan, and this sure sounds important. But this post is literally the first thing I've ever read on the site. Should I even try to understand this?

meowface 13y ago
You're replying to the owner of 4chan right now, if you're unaware.
- marshray 13y ago
  I was indeed aware.
britta 13y ago
Why not! This post is about moderating a very large and very complex forum, which can be interesting to anyone who participates in forums, or anyone interested in social software and online communities. I'll attempt to explain some of the jargon. The part about "proud to call ourselves /v/irgins and /k/ommandos" refers to the nicknames that people on various boards (topic-specific forums within 4chan) have invented to call themselves, as a kind of in-joke. For example, "/v/" is shorthand for the video games board (because its URL is http://boards.4chan.org/v/ http://boards.4chan.org/v/), so people on the board extend that and call themselves "/v/irgins" (because that's much more amusing than "/v/ideogamers"). When he says "sage is now invisible", "sage" means the feature that lets you write a comment that doesn't bump that thread to the top of the board. People use "sage" in order to write comments like "this post is terrible" without promoting that post. See http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sage http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sage or http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sage http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sage for more explanation. "/q/ will be retired and replaced" - this was a board that moot had set up for talking about 4chan itself (asking him questions, providing feedback, etc). "Post timers" prevent you from writing tons of comments in rapid sequence, which is usually spammy/abusive behavior.
- marshray 13y ago
  Thanks. It's still not clear to me what kind of moderation system is in place (if any). But it's OK :-)
  - y2bd 13y ago
    There is a list of global rules, as well as some board-specific rules [1]. Generally boards just require you to stay on-topic (unless you're on /b/, where the only off-topic thing is ponies, which is the only on-topic thing on /mlp/), refrain from spam, and not post anything that could get 4chan in legal trouble. Rule offenses result in IP bans, usually for a certain time (from a day to month to forever). All of the boards have mods of various rankings (people who delete off-topic posts vs people who actually ban/temp-ban users) and various degrees of moderation. According to the post (and agreeing with my personal experience) moderation has generally been on the rise as of late, although apparently this is due to better moderation tools rather than an increase in moderators. Prior to the new ban-list, most moderation (I've seen anyway) is pretty quiet, save from the infamous USER HAS BEEN BANNED FOR THIS POST that you sometimes see. [1] https://www.4chan.org/rules https://www.4chan.org/rules
    - marshray 13y ago
      The only off-topic thing is My Little Ponies?! OMFG what has this world come to?
      - hrkristian 13y ago
        Not the easiest thing in the world to define what is off-topic on a "random" board.
      - mhurron 13y ago
        They're not off topic they belong in /mlp/
        guizzy 13y ago
lmm 13y ago
The post is interesting but it's fundamentally about 4chan culture (and I'd say there have been more important changes in the past). I don't think it will make sense without being at least a little familiar with that culture - you'd be better off visiting the actual boards and getting a feel for the place first.

I've heard a lot of stuff about 4chan, and this sure sounds important. But this post is literally the first thing I've ever read on the site. Should I even try to understand this?

meowface 13y ago

You're replying to the owner of 4chan right now, if you're unaware.

marshray 13y ago
I was indeed aware.

britta 13y ago

Why not! This post is about moderating a very large and very complex forum, which can be interesting to anyone who participates in forums, or anyone interested in social software and online communities. I'll attempt to explain some of the jargon. The part about "proud to call ourselves /v/irgins and /k/ommandos" refers to the nicknames that people on various boards (topic-specific forums within 4chan) have invented to call themselves, as a kind of in-joke. For example, "/v/" is shorthand for the video games board (because its URL is http://boards.4chan.org/v/ http://boards.4chan.org/v/), so people on the board extend that and call themselves "/v/irgins" (because that's much more amusing than "/v/ideogamers"). When he says "sage is now invisible", "sage" means the feature that lets you write a comment that doesn't bump that thread to the top of the board. People use "sage" in order to write comments like "this post is terrible" without promoting that post. See http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sage http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sage or http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sage http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sage for more explanation. "/q/ will be retired and replaced" - this was a board that moot had set up for talking about 4chan itself (asking him questions, providing feedback, etc). "Post timers" prevent you from writing tons of comments in rapid sequence, which is usually spammy/abusive behavior.

marshray 13y ago
Thanks. It's still not clear to me what kind of moderation system is in place (if any). But it's OK :-)
- y2bd 13y ago
  There is a list of global rules, as well as some board-specific rules [1]. Generally boards just require you to stay on-topic (unless you're on /b/, where the only off-topic thing is ponies, which is the only on-topic thing on /mlp/), refrain from spam, and not post anything that could get 4chan in legal trouble. Rule offenses result in IP bans, usually for a certain time (from a day to month to forever). All of the boards have mods of various rankings (people who delete off-topic posts vs people who actually ban/temp-ban users) and various degrees of moderation. According to the post (and agreeing with my personal experience) moderation has generally been on the rise as of late, although apparently this is due to better moderation tools rather than an increase in moderators. Prior to the new ban-list, most moderation (I've seen anyway) is pretty quiet, save from the infamous USER HAS BEEN BANNED FOR THIS POST that you sometimes see. [1] https://www.4chan.org/rules https://www.4chan.org/rules
  - marshray 13y ago
    The only off-topic thing is My Little Ponies?! OMFG what has this world come to?
    - hrkristian 13y ago
      Not the easiest thing in the world to define what is off-topic on a "random" board.
    - mhurron 13y ago
      They're not off topic they belong in /mlp/
      - guizzy 13y ago

lmm 13y ago

The post is interesting but it's fundamentally about 4chan culture (and I'd say there have been more important changes in the past). I don't think it will make sense without being at least a little familiar with that culture - you'd be better off visiting the actual boards and getting a feel for the place first.