4chan

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4chan
Official 4chan logo

The main page of 4chan.org as of March 1, 2008.
URL http://www.4chan.org/
Commercial? Yes
Type of site Imageboard/TextBBS
Registration No
Available language(s) English, Japanese
Owner "moot"
Created by "moot"
Launched October 1, 2003

4chan is an English language imageboard based on the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel. This imageboard is based primarily around the posting of pictures (generally related to anime, manga, and popular culture) and their discussion. The Guardian describes it as "at once brilliant, ridiculous and alarming."[1]

The site and its userbase have received attention from the media for a number of reasons, including posts sporting terrorist threats against schools and sports stadiums, attacks against Hal Turner on his Internet shows and distributed-denial-of-service attacks against eBaum's World and taking part in Project Chanology.

Many internet memes have originated there, including lolcats and rickrolling.

Contents

History

4chan was founded in 2003 as a project by "moot", a member of the Something Awful forums.[2][3]

His website soon attracted anime fans around the world and has grown greatly since its creation,[4] eventually surpassing Futaba Channel in traffic. It is currently ranking 263rd amongst other websites globally, and 61st in the United States.[5]

In 2005, the lolcat internet meme was started on 4chan as "Caturday", Saturdays on which users would post pictures of cats, eventually adding image macros to them.[6][7][8]

Layout

The activity of 4chan takes place on discussion boards, image and upload boards, and drawing boards. Currently, there are forty-four different image boards, covering topics such as anime, video games, weapons, photography, and real and animated pornography.

Other boards include an oekaki board, an Artwork/Critique board, an upload board which is used for the uploading and discussion of Flash movies, and nineteen text-based discussion boards. The discussion boards were once hosted on a separate site called "world4ch" (pronounced world four channel) as an homage to the defunct world2ch, which itself was a website intending to be an earlier attempt to create an English version of 2channel, until they moved to the subdomain dis.4chan.org.

Because 4chan is provided to its users free of charge and consumes a large amount of bandwidth, its financing often becomes problematic. To avoid long periods of downtime caused by a severe lack of funds, such as the four "deaths" that plagued the site during its first year of existence, the 4chan staff regularly requests donations.[9] However, there have been numerous problems relating to the use of several different online payment services,[9] including PayPal, YowCow, and the Authorize.Net payment gateway. The pornographic content hosted on 4chan violated the terms of services of various payment receiving services and so they refused to allow 4chan to use their services.[9]

/b/

The 57,000,000th post on /b/.
The 57,000,000th post on /b/.
Example of a thread on /b/.
Example of a thread on /b/.

The "random" board, /b/, is based on the Nijiura board of Futaba Channel. It is by far 4chan's most popular board, as confirmed by statistics released by 4chan staff and by the publicly available post count. As of March 27, 2008, /b/'s post count has surpassed 60,000,000 posts whereas most of the other boards have yet to break 250,000. Only eleven other boards (/a/, /co/, /v/, /k/, /m/, /r/, /s/, /h/, /tg/, /gif/ and /g/) have accumulated more than 1,000,000 posts (/a/ and /v/ each having over 9,000,000). After /b/'s 31,000,000th post was made on June 16, 2007, it took just 9 days to accumulate another 1,000,000, meaning /b/'s posting rate had attained an average of more than 111,000 posts per day. Certain post numbers, such as 12345678 and 22222222, and the aforementioned milestones, are sought after, with a large amount of posting taking place to "GET" them.[10]

/b/ is known to officially have a "no rules" policy, save for a ban on certain illegal content, such as child pornography and invasions of other websites, both of which are inherited from site-wide rules. This "no rules" policy applies to administrator and moderator actions as well, meaning that users may be banned at any time, for any reason, including none.[11]

The humor of /b/'s many users, who refer to themselves as "/b/tards",[12] is often incomprehensible to newcomers and outsiders, and is frequently characterized by intricate inside jokes and black comedy.[13]

Anonymity

Main article: Anonymous (group)

4chan is an anonymous BBS which does not require the user to supply any personal information, such as a name or email address, before being able to post messages. Unlike most web forums, 4chan does not have any kind of registration system. On boards the poster can use any nickname to his or her liking, making it possible to post under the name of someone else by simply entering his or her name into the posting form. In place of registration, 4chan has provided tripcodes as an optional form of authenticating a poster's identity.[14] As the concept of anonymous posting is a defining feature of Futaba-like imageboards, the use of tripcodes generates controversy among 4chan users. Many posters who use them risk being singled out and ridiculed, often with the use of derogatory terms such as "tripfag." As anonymous posting causes posts to be attributed to "Anonymous," a running gag on 4chan is the idea that Anonymous is in fact a single person or the true name of the posters.

Moderators will generally post without a name even when banning users or posting information. In this case, the post is attributed to "Anonymous ## Mod" (though even moderators are sometimes known to simply post as "Anonymous"). The primary exception is when 4chan's founder "moot" posts information relating to changes in the site.

Media attention

eBaum's World attacks

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008)
Main article: eBaum's World

In 2006, eBaum's World hosted an image of Lindsay Lohan from YTMND. As a result, users of 4chan, YTMND, Something Awful and Newgrounds participated in an attack against the site including a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, and flooding of the website's chat room, forums and technical support. The attack caused the forums to go offline for an unknown period of time.[15][16]

Blocks in the UK

Access to /b/ was blocked to customers of NTL, BT Broadband and UK Online in early June 2006.[17] For some users, access to /r/, /s/, and /t/ was also affected. While moderators attempt to remove instances of illegal content as soon as possible, as well as ban the individuals responsible for them, the prevalence of such content has led systems like Cleanfeed to blacklist the site. The 4chan terms of service and FAQ also state that illegal material (e.g. child pornography, posting of personal information, invasions of other Internet communities, etc.) will not be tolerated, and will be punished appropriately.[11][14] Moderators have also recently taken stronger measures against illicit content. For example, on July 12, 2006, a reporting system was implemented on all of 4chan's image, upload, and oekaki boards, allowing any user to 'report' a post that contains illegal material, or material that violates 4chan's terms of use. On August 23, 2006, the moderators of /b/ began enforcing previously neglected rules regarding sexually suggestive pictures of under-age teenagers, invasions of other websites, and posting of personal information. Infractions would now result in bans applied to the original poster and anyone posting in the thread, whether he or she supported the content or not. Many users of /b/ responded by attacking /b/ with automatic floods and spam.

Some suspect that the blocks are related to the efforts of the Internet Watch Foundation; however, the "IWF-led block" theory has several discrepancies. Firstly, the Internet service providers (ISP) that continue to block /b/ are BT Internet and NTL, with UKOnline appearing to have removed its restriction after a few weeks. Secondly, the IWF themselves confirmed that "no part of the URL for the site 4chan.org is included in our live database."[18] Investigations by 4chan users have revealed that BT's support teams claim to have no knowledge of a block on any part of the URL 4chan.org.[19] Finally, the BT block on /b/ has evolved, with new workarounds redirected to the ban page or a nondescript 404 within mere hours of being discovered.[20] These blocks also have an erratic nature, apparently having been suddenly lifted, but reinstated days later, only to be lifted again within an equally short time period.[17] However, some of the perceived inconsistencies in this theory are directly contradicted by claims made by 4chan's staff and other sources. For example, on August 5, 2006, while being filmed during a 4chan panel at Otakon in which he was fielding questions from the audience, moot, the owner of 4chan, stated that the blockings of /b/ and some of the other boards have indeed been a result of the Cleanfeed system. /b/'s front page has also been removed from Google search results due to a notice sent by the IWF to Google.[21][22] These blocks on /b/ appear to be no longer in place.

NFL bomb threat hoax

Main article: Jake Brahm

On October 18, 2006 the Department of Homeland Security warned NFL officials in Miami, New York City, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, and Cleveland about a possible threat involving the simultaneous use of dirty bombs at stadiums in those cities.[23] The threat claimed that the attack would be carried out on October 22, the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.[24] Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security expressed doubt concerning the credibility of the threats, but still warned the relevant organizations as a precaution. The games proceeded as planned but under a higher level of security awareness.

The threats came to light in the national media after they were reposted on 4chan's /b/ more than forty times by Jake Brahm between September 18 and October 19 of 2006.[25]

The threat was, in fact, originally posted on TheFriendSociety.com, but the website crashed due to a high volume of traffic incurred after CNN posted a link to it, and it was reposted on 4chan afterwards, and soon became associated with that site instead.[26]

On October 20, 2006, Brahm turned himself in to federal authorities. He was charged with fabricating a fake terrorist threat and was taken into custody by police.[27] If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.[28]

Hal Turner

See also: Hal Turner

In December 2006 and January 2007, individuals who identified themselves as /b/tards "raided" white nationalist Hal Turner, taking his site offline, and costing thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills according to Turner. The aforementioned /b/tards also proceeded to prank call Turner's phone-in radio show. Turner retaliated by sending a "formal legal notice of criminal activity in violation of several federal laws" by email to 7chan, multacom, and multicom, as well as redirecting his domain to 420chan.org causing that site to take a bandwidth hit as well.[12][29][30] He also sued 4chan, 7chan, and other websites in court over copyright infringement; however, he lost his plea for an injunction and failed to receive letters from the court.[31]

False claims of responsibility

Immediately following widely publicised killings, particularly school shootings, false claims of responsibility have surfaced on 4chan - supported by fake and back-dated screenshots of the killer writing that he is about to commit murder/suicide at the location. For example, while news of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre was breaking, some news sources reported that the killer had posted about his plans on 4chan. Most such news reports were quietly removed once it became clear that the post was a hoax, but several months later some such reports still remained posted without retraction.[32]

"Chocolate Rain"

Main article: Chocolate Rain

On July 11, 2007, many links to the song "Chocolate Rain" by Tay Zonday on YouTube were posted on the website.[33] Zonday believes this is what led to his initial popularity.[34][35] The video spawned a multitude of memes on the /b/ board which continued to be posted for months.

KTTV Fox 11 news report

On July 26, 2007, KTTV Fox 11 News based in Los Angeles, California aired a report on "Anonymous", calling them a group of "hackers on steroids", "domestic terrorists", and collectively an "Internet hate machine". The report covered an attack on a MySpace user, who claimed to have had his MySpace account hacked into by "Anonymous", and plastered with gay pornography images uploaded by the hackers. The MySpace user also claimed a virus written by "Anonymous" hackers was sent to him and to ninety friends on his MySpace contact list, crashing thirty-two of his friends' computers. The report also featured a former "hacker" who had fallen out with "Anonymous" and explained his view of the "Anonymous" culture. In addition, the report also mentioned "raids" on Habbo Hotel, a "national campaign to spoil the new Harry Potter book ending", and threats to "bomb sports stadiums".[36]

According to Slashdot writers, the story focused mainly on users of "4chan, 7chan and 420chan". The writer claimed that the report "seems to confuse /b/ raids and motivational poster templates with a genuine threat to the American public", adding that the "unrelated" footage of a van exploding shown in the report was to "equate anonymous posting with domestic terror".[37]

Pflugerville High School terrorist threat

The Pflugerville threat.
The Pflugerville threat.

Around midnight on September 11, 2007, a student posted photographs of mock-pipe bombs and another photograph of him holding them whilst saying he would blow up his high school at 9:11 a.m. on Sept. 11. People on 4chan[38][39][40][41][42] helped track him down by finding the perpetrator's father's name in the Exif data of a photograph he took, and contacted the police. He was arrested before school began that day.[43][44][45][46]

Stevenson High threat

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008)

On October 30, 2007, two students, Jeremie Dalin, 17 and Dennis Oh, 17, posted a threat against a Stevenson High School on the website.[47][48][49][50] Oh made a screenshot or photograph of the threat and then created a web page dedicated to the threat.[51][52] The FBI traced the message, Dalin's home address, when contacted by the authorities he claimed it was a bad joke and did not intend on harming anyone.[53] The threat caused approximately 500 students to miss a school day. Dalin was due back in court in February.[54]

Melbourne gun threat

On December 8, 2007, Australian Jarrad Willis, 20, was arrested for posting a threat on 4chan to "shoot and kill as many people as I can until... I am incapacitated or killed by the police". Police investigated a possible connection to the Westroads Mall shooting, which had happened hours before, but there was no indication that Willis was in any way connected to the shooting.[55][56] Willis was charged with seven counts of obtaining property by deception over an alleged $4500 eBay scam by the end of the month.[57] The message was later copied onto the website JuicyCampus which also resulted in the arrest of Carlos Huerta.[58]

Project Chanology

Main article: Project Chanology

4chan has been loosely associated with Project Chanology, which organizes monthly worldwide protests against the Church of Scientology.[59] The project originated from threads posted on 4chan and other imageboards discussing the removal of an exclusive promotional interview with Tom Cruise from YouTube in January 2008. These threads, originally mocking Scientology, led to serious discussion about freedom of speech, which led users to formulate the idea of a worldwide protest against the church.

The Church of Scientology has reportedly told its members to use "any means necessary" to oppose Anonymous. On March 29th, 2008, the Houston branch of Chanology successfully proposed a resolution to have the COS tax exempt status revoked in Texas. The resolution stated that in order to be considered a religion, a group must have an official statement of faith, be free to the public, and have routine worship services, all of which the COS lacks.[60]

Only some of 4chan users actually take part in "Project Chanology", and it should be noted that there are some users who are opposed to the protests, out of fear that 4chan would become a mainstream fad from the publicity. [61]

See also

References

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  4. ^ Alexa traffic rankings. Alexa Internet. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  5. ^ Alexa traffic rankings. Alexa Internet. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
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  7. ^ Richards, Paul (2007-11-14). Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus. The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
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  60. ^ Resolution. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
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External links