4Chan is an online image-based bulletin board site that caters to a wide variety of community-generated content. It has been around since the early 2000s and has achieved a great deal of notoriety for its often unique, thought-provoking content. Many consider 4Chan to be the birthplace for numerous internet memes, a source of political speech, and a platform for creating new art forms. Despite its occasionally controversial reputation, 4Chan remains surprisingly popular with an estimated 20 million monthly visitors accessing the site every day.
Unlike traditional websites, 4Chan does not require users to register or create accounts before participating in discussions or uploading images. This allows users the opportunity to post from completely anonymous accounts which encourages free expression and protects user privacy. In addition, instead of allowing only text-based posts and threads, 4 Chan features an array of image formats – including GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs, WEBMs – allowing users to communicate through visual messages or “memes”.
The simplicity and anonymity provided by 4Chan has attracted a wide range of users from all over the world who come together to discuss everything from politics to pop culture. Posters on 4Chan are separated into separate subgroups or channels known as ‘boards’; each board is dedicated to a particular topic such as Anime & Manga, Video Games or Creativity & Technology. Posts are listed chronologically in one long list which allows users to reply directly within existing discussions making them easier for others to follow up on specific conversations over time.
An interesting phenomenon in recent years is that many different offshoots have now started occurring where posters will move conversations between each other in order to better facilitate certain topics outside the bounds of their board. While some users disapprove of this form of communication due