Memes are probably the worst thing to ever happen to the internet.
What are your thoughts on 4chan?
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Memes are probably the worst thing to ever happen to the internet.
I'm partial to those images where you like...design characters or have a certain amount of points to spend on a house or stuff like that. Not sure what the word for them is.
EDIT: Like this
http://www.reddit.com/r/makeyourchoice is a collection of said things.
Eighty Deuce
Banned
I find /fit/ fucking hilarious.
i appreciate its unfiltered nature. I've definitely found a lot of interesting stuff there, and occasionally, even interesting discussion.
so for me, it has value, and a lot of that comes from how easy it is to post in a mostly anonymous nature. clearly that has its own downsides like rampant offensive or extremist comments (and photos.)
can totally see how a lot of people simply wouldn't care to deal with that. but for me, it's easy to automatically filter it out so...
provide you with some of my perspective. i'm gay. and you really can't go more than a few posts without some comments about LGBT people in some shape or form, usually negative. I just can't take it seriously. People just can't control themselves when they think they can say whatever they want, But I also realize it's not fully indicative of a lot of people's TRUE views, a lot of it comes from immature people trying to be as offensive as they can without thinking about it very much. It's not okay, but like I said, I just filter it out to get what I feel is valuable.
i'm talking about your typical thread where there is no accountability and nobody knows much of anything about the other posters. when someone is getting personally attached or it somehow crosses over into people's lives (and it can) it's reprehensible for sure.
so for me, it has value, and a lot of that comes from how easy it is to post in a mostly anonymous nature. clearly that has its own downsides like rampant offensive or extremist comments (and photos.)
can totally see how a lot of people simply wouldn't care to deal with that. but for me, it's easy to automatically filter it out so...
provide you with some of my perspective. i'm gay. and you really can't go more than a few posts without some comments about LGBT people in some shape or form, usually negative. I just can't take it seriously. People just can't control themselves when they think they can say whatever they want, But I also realize it's not fully indicative of a lot of people's TRUE views, a lot of it comes from immature people trying to be as offensive as they can without thinking about it very much. It's not okay, but like I said, I just filter it out to get what I feel is valuable.
i'm talking about your typical thread where there is no accountability and nobody knows much of anything about the other posters. when someone is getting personally attached or it somehow crosses over into people's lives (and it can) it's reprehensible for sure.
CloudyTuba
Member
A wretched hive of scum and villainy.
I don't agree with the behaviour or the nihilistic "taunt everything that thinks it has integrity" attitude, but I agree with the underlying point, at least; they find it hard to take people who try to push "what is and isn't ok" seriously at all, because our culture has raised them to be this cynical, to be this disinterested in any movement that takes itself seriously because (apparently) there's always a hypocrisy at the core of it.
googleplex
Member
Most of 4chan is a gapping asshole. But /co/ is tolerable to sometimes awesome occasionally.
Yeah, in a way. But 4chan can still be more intolerant than reddit. The amount of variety between reddit subs is a lot wider than the amount of variety between reddit boards.
I think 4chan might actually be more comparable to tumblr, in its own self-loathing.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
The Mecha Board is pretty cool, since it's a niche subject that's not covered a lot elsewhere, and they seem much more well-behaved, perhaps since it's made up of a smaller user base.
I avoided /v/ a lot during the GamerGate stuff, but it's simmered down and most if it now seems like harmless fun and stupid jokes, so sometimes I'll check it for a quick laugh.
I avoided /v/ a lot during the GamerGate stuff, but it's simmered down and most if it now seems like harmless fun and stupid jokes, so sometimes I'll check it for a quick laugh.
AuthenticM
Member
They are a bunch of unmoderated fuckers.
QuiteWhittle
Member
I post on /co/ semi-regularly. The bigotry is tamer than you'd expect and the live reaction threads for DCTV programming can be pretty fun.
/pol/ wasn't shut down. The admins just got rid of the captchas and stopped trying to moderate behavior, in an effort to make the board worse and hopefully discourage bigotry.
A lot of legitimate Neo-Nazis left, so I think it's working.
Coffee Dog
Banned
It's a website with good and bad parts like any other. The more popular something is, the more idiots something attracts. So most of the big forums over there are pits of ignorance and stupidity, but so is gaming side.
/ck/, /vr/ and occasionally /co/ are great little boards with passionate communities that have a great sense of humor.
/ck/, /vr/ and occasionally /co/ are great little boards with passionate communities that have a great sense of humor.
revolverjgw
Member
Yep. It's fantastic!
CarpeDeezNutz
Member
RadioJoNES64
Banned
I used to browse /v/ a lot but the atmosphere there is too negative now for me to want to participate in it.
I'm not saying it isn't evil.
But it's not your standard evil, either. It's unique evil. Post-modern, reactionary. An evil directly out of our age and culture. These people exist for a genuine reason.
On occasions where I get bored and end up there I find that it's always a crapshoot depending on stuff like the time, month, or current events. Sometimes (probably most of the time honestly) I find a bunch of awful posts/threads, other times it's a little slower and something actually interesting pops up. So it's basically like Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter to me, where my opinion of it depends on the content I'm getting in the particular moment I'm browsing through it.
Gaf or a Subreddit usually have more structures/rules/limitations and the user base's interests and behavior tend to cause the threads that get made and the way those threads progress to be fairly similar, so I usually know what I'm getting with a thread and read/avoid them based on that, and my opinion of them hasn't changed much over the years. For better or worse the rather lax structure and gatekeepers on 4chan ensures almost anything can happen and happen quickly, so it can easily flip-flop between entertaining and irritating.
Gaf or a Subreddit usually have more structures/rules/limitations and the user base's interests and behavior tend to cause the threads that get made and the way those threads progress to be fairly similar, so I usually know what I'm getting with a thread and read/avoid them based on that, and my opinion of them hasn't changed much over the years. For better or worse the rather lax structure and gatekeepers on 4chan ensures almost anything can happen and happen quickly, so it can easily flip-flop between entertaining and irritating.
I dont think its possible to be more negative and useless than /v/
It is both fantastic and terrible at the same site, when they're funny, they are hilarious, when they're bad, they're awful, amazingly deep discussions can be had there but are often derailed by shit-posting, (this happens way more often than it should) /pol/ is the worst board by far, best is depending on what you like but I regularly browse /x/ /lgbt/ and /hm/.
A place that attracts people on the fringes of internet society. A place that is also largely responsible for shaping much of internet culture, especially memes, although it has become a lot less relevant as places like tumblr, instagram, reddit and "web 2.0" websites have risen.
A place with a very high barrier of entry. From the generally intentional negativity designed to dissuade and discourage newcomers, to the lingo/slang/code that was originally unique to the site, to the people who post the most vile/disgusting things they can think of, it is not an easy culture to crack.
It is a place where many enthusiasts gather as for many topics it is one of the fastest moving places, and it is also a place where people can be both brutally honest and extremely dishonest.
It may be hard for some to believe, but many intelligent people post there - perhaps because it can feel like an "elite club" to some.
For what it's worth, I used to browse the technology board after I got my first computer because it was a good place to get technology advice if you knew how to ask/lurk properly. I ended up sticking around for a while and during that time I learned a lot of what I know about computers.
I haven't looked at the site more than a half dozen times in the last 3 or 4 years, but in my teens I browsed heavily as there was a lot I learned from the website and in a way I related to the "counter culture" that thrived there.
A longtime meme/joke/idea that was popular on the website when I browsed it was that it was constantly getting worse and worse as it became more popular and more people joined it. While this is a bit of a joke to some people, most jokes are based on the truth on some level. Therefore I'm guessing the website is worse than it was when I browsed it.
While I can't recommend the website, especially as I'm unsure how much farther downhill it has gone, an important thing to keep in mind is that everything posted there needs to be taken with several gains of salt. When I browsed it was a metagame to some people to post things that sounded extremely serious but were 100% made up. Another important thing to keep in mind is that much of the negativity is not at all serious, and is like a slang/lingo that is used to show that you understand the website and are not new to it. Or at least that's how it was 3-4 years ago.
There is a lot more that could be said, and ultimately your experience of the website will depend very largely on which boards you frequent, and how much time you invest into understanding the culture and learning what is real and what isn't.
A place with a very high barrier of entry. From the generally intentional negativity designed to dissuade and discourage newcomers, to the lingo/slang/code that was originally unique to the site, to the people who post the most vile/disgusting things they can think of, it is not an easy culture to crack.
It is a place where many enthusiasts gather as for many topics it is one of the fastest moving places, and it is also a place where people can be both brutally honest and extremely dishonest.
It may be hard for some to believe, but many intelligent people post there - perhaps because it can feel like an "elite club" to some.
For what it's worth, I used to browse the technology board after I got my first computer because it was a good place to get technology advice if you knew how to ask/lurk properly. I ended up sticking around for a while and during that time I learned a lot of what I know about computers.
I haven't looked at the site more than a half dozen times in the last 3 or 4 years, but in my teens I browsed heavily as there was a lot I learned from the website and in a way I related to the "counter culture" that thrived there.
A longtime meme/joke/idea that was popular on the website when I browsed it was that it was constantly getting worse and worse as it became more popular and more people joined it. While this is a bit of a joke to some people, most jokes are based on the truth on some level. Therefore I'm guessing the website is worse than it was when I browsed it.
While I can't recommend the website, especially as I'm unsure how much farther downhill it has gone, an important thing to keep in mind is that everything posted there needs to be taken with several gains of salt. When I browsed it was a metagame to some people to post things that sounded extremely serious but were 100% made up. Another important thing to keep in mind is that much of the negativity is not at all serious, and is like a slang/lingo that is used to show that you understand the website and are not new to it. Or at least that's how it was 3-4 years ago.
There is a lot more that could be said, and ultimately your experience of the website will depend very largely on which boards you frequent, and how much time you invest into understanding the culture and learning what is real and what isn't.
/tv/ is a weird place. It has some bigotry, and a vocal minority of posters are obsessed with teenage actresses, most of them underage. But besides those neckbeards, it's one of the more competent communities. The memes on /tv/ are probably the best on 4chan, and it's got the most ideological diversity of any board. People will say horrible things about minorities, but they'll be called out for it.
The /got/ megathreads tend to be the best place for discussion of GRRM's works. The community there really encourages a deep understanding of the ASOIAF universe and has come up with some incredible theories.
Edit: Oh, you said /v/. Yeah, /v/ is pretty unsalvageable, although the discussion of gameplay mechanics is sometimes fun.
I agree with most of the OP, though one thing I will say is that I like how the population of 4Chan is at least aware of how shitty they are, as opposed to Reddit where the people there are casually racist/sexist/bigoted/etc. and are seemingly completely oblivious to it.
The fact that /pol/ culture infests the entirety of the site to some degree really, really makes it hard to enjoy even the good stuff that gets posted there, and I've been to 4Chan a lot less in the past year or so because of it. That shit is just downright putrid and vile, and I don't care if any of it is a joke or "ironic," or whatever.
This reminds me of the fact that 4Chan x Tumblr is a thing that exists
The fact that /pol/ culture infests the entirety of the site to some degree really, really makes it hard to enjoy even the good stuff that gets posted there, and I've been to 4Chan a lot less in the past year or so because of it. That shit is just downright putrid and vile, and I don't care if any of it is a joke or "ironic," or whatever.
This reminds me of the fact that 4Chan x Tumblr is a thing that exists
Yeah, not sure how anyone who actually posts on /v/ can say that.
It doesn't help that people posting on the other boards love to troll /v/ whenever there's an obvious hotbutton topic. The Oculus Rift Facebook purchase threads were hysterical.
dapperbandit
Banned
Best and the worst place on the internet.
Each board has it's own complex psyche.
/v/'s rage and cynicism
/tv/'s plebeian/patrician elitism
/fit/'s quest for epic gainz
/pol/... it's so shit but I can't help but laugh at some of their bullshit. For example:
Each board has it's own complex psyche.
/v/'s rage and cynicism
/tv/'s plebeian/patrician elitism
/fit/'s quest for epic gainz
/pol/... it's so shit but I can't help but laugh at some of their bullshit. For example:
See
This is what I mean.
I have enjoyed reading some deep aspects of gameplay mechanics of various games (heck, there was a Tetris Attack streaming between two guys doing some insane shit) in /v/ rather than stuff I can get from other places.
I'll say this more bluntly. It's like they're Derrick01, except they're hilarious, don't take themselves seriously and at least you can laugh if they bash a game you like.
/v/ can be pretty awful at times, but I won't deny I have enjoyed their threads a lot more than some stuff in Gaming side of this forum.
speculawyer
Member
They crazy. But they do make things interesting.
There are some legitimately good discussions going on if you can shift through the bullshit.
Even then, most of the bullshit is so absurd and over the top I just find it funny. And most of the communities seem more contained these days. I remember years ago when I first heard about 4chan and you could see some of the truly disgusting things /b/ posts infesting the entire site.
Even then, most of the bullshit is so absurd and over the top I just find it funny. And most of the communities seem more contained these days. I remember years ago when I first heard about 4chan and you could see some of the truly disgusting things /b/ posts infesting the entire site.
Phrozenflame500
Member
It's fun if you don't take any of the overt hostility seriously. But that's a lot of hostility to not take seriously so it's definitely not for everyone.
Also yeah, stay away from the containment boards like /pol/.
Also yeah, stay away from the containment boards like /pol/.
/pol/... it's so shit but I can't help but laugh at some of their bullshit. For example:
There are more replies every time I see this picture.
The problem is that /pol/ leaks. /v/ is flat-out /pol/ junior at times.
And the only thing saving /tg/ from being /pol/ junior is that everyone hates the Whizzard's magical realm.
There has to be a point where this Meme has to die.
You forgot to add preteen
And yet i enjoy it.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I love 4chan, it was my main site for MANY years, the reason I left were the spoilers... I always got spoiled of every game and anime.
I stopped going to 4chan when I found Neogaf several years ago.
I stopped going to 4chan when I found Neogaf several years ago.
Allforce
Member
I've never had a problem with any of it. To me it sort or represents the last bastion of the "wild west" feel of the internet. I'm ok with, and somewhat encouraged by, the fact that it exists and will continue to exist.
There's a "Brony |OT|" on GAF, I might find that stuff weird or reprehensible or goofy or just plain dumb, but I'm damn glad that it exists and places like this that allow it. 4Chan is the same to me, no matter the board.
There's a "Brony |OT|" on GAF, I might find that stuff weird or reprehensible or goofy or just plain dumb, but I'm damn glad that it exists and places like this that allow it. 4Chan is the same to me, no matter the board.
I'm not white, so that's 2/3. Cool.
SonicMegaDrive
Member
I'm all of those things and I think the site is 100% garbage.
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