this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2025
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It contained some of the best and the worst of the internet, but its legacy is cemented with its greentexts which explores the sometimes dark and depraved aspects of us all without flinching away from it.
I believe the website has done more good than harm, but acknowledge that the harm it has inflicted has been targeted and substantial.
Well, the harm that it did is possibly being one of the catalysts for the modern alt-right movement which directly lead to fascist america so...
Sure, it wasn't the only thing, but it sure as hell was a bug part of it (especially during gamergate)
I'd argue that they were co-opted, rather than spawned it. 4chan was an edgy place pre-2016 sure, but the users there were only half into their conspiracy bullshit. The Q stuff came out of seemingly nowhere and instead of being shot down as the usual bullshit, somehow it was being elevated and promoted. That smells like outside interference to me, but I have no data to back it other than my own bullshit theory...
I think similarly. And 4chan wasn't the only website affected, it happened to reddit and to pretty much all social networks. It was very drastic, like somebody flipped a switch on the internet that year. You could tell astroturfing was way more intense than usual.
I'm not sure if I got used to it, but it feels a little bit more mellow nowadays, with flare-ups in key political moments, but 2016 was a 365 day effort.
It happened here too last US election. I had no idea what was real, and then suddenly - poof - the vocal accounts all quieted down.