Assignment 4 Final: Why I'm posting on 4chan (Even though I don't want to)

I don't like spitting into the void and hoping you hit something, anything. It's pointless, a waste of time, and will generally get you trolled on the internet. To a certain extent, one could claim that even posting on a blog, which is likely lost within the 126 million other blogs, is more or less the same thing. The problem is, though, that it’s not really the same thing. As far as the internet and its ephemeral nature is concerned, blogs are relatively permanent. Short of server moves or entries being taken down, what’s posted up there stays. The downside to this, though, is that a blog is isolated in its webspace. Unless you have other bloggers or websites linking to you, no one sees your work. That’s not very web 2.0, and it’s why I haven’t posted my finalized image to my blog.

No. Instead, I return to the void from the opening sentence. The void, in this case, is 4chan (Note: For the love of whatever you hold holy, 4chan is not work safe. Not even on the work safe boards. You have been warned.) Established in 2003 as an English-speaking equivalent to 2chan, 4chan is a series of different image boards, each with a different topic. While they began with a single board (/b/, Random), it has since burgeoned to 50 different image boards. Each of these boards are largely unregulated and nearly completely anonymous. It’s also one of the Web 2.0-iest sites on the internet.

Web 2.0 itself has a rather slippery definition. Wikipedia notes that Web 2.0 consists of websites that are focused primarily on the user, the user’s information, and sharing that information with others. Tim O’Reilly agrees roughly in his 2005 essay on the differences between programs based in Web 1.0 with those based on Web 2.0, noting that Web 2.0 programs such as Google are driven as much by the user as they are by the arbitrary requirements of the creator. It’s these definitions that 4chan embodies rather perfectly.

See, technically speaking, 4chan has absolutely no content of its own. Everyone on it, from the images to the links to the writing, is user driven. What’s more, it’s also consistently moving. The creator of 4chan, moot, recently gave a TED talk, where he noted that there are over 7 million monthly visitors and 700,000 posts a day. These are staggering numbers, and it’s a hint as to how large the audience is. Over 7 million anonymous users, each of whom is a potential audience member, go there. It’s because of them that lolcats and Rick Rolls exist (among other things).

It’s also because of them that I feel my image would be right at home, on at least the /v/ (video games) board. As an image board, it’s perfectly suited to my image (unlike, say, YouTube), and it consists of largely my target audience (people familiar with video games who may not have considered the avatar design). Additionally, as an anonymous board, there’s a chance that some real conversation could start up, or it could become a meme. On the other hand, because the boards move so quickly, there’s a greater chance of being lost in the noise. But then, that’s one of the risks inherent with spitting into the void.