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A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

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Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#11

Post by anon6778 »

peruvian wrote: post #6
Kec71 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nevertheless, /pol/ and r/the_donald were one of main factors why Donald Trump got elected. This crowdsurfing phenomenon holds tremendous amount of power.

What's crazy is that in the Bush/early Obama years 4chan was fairly liberal in terms of politics.

I think the thing is that 4chan is mostly anti-establishment. Obama promised CHANGE (anti-lobbying, supporting lower classes) and at the same time bringing troops home, something that would also appeal to conservatives. Plus he was fairly open and media-savy which provided a lot of material for memes, e.g. the situation room photo when they got osama.

When he failed to achieve his promises - certainly due to republican blockades to some extent - he was seen as a disappointment and trump became THE spanner in the works of washington.

Another important polarizing issue is the vocal social justice movement in colleges, on tumblr, in the media etc. Since it is seen as infringing on free speech where it matters to 4chan (games, porn, unfiltered non-PC conversation, trolling) they are seen as a threat. If the left does not radically defend free speech, even when it is unpleasant or could be considered as hateful while the right promises small government and has crazy libertarian subcurrents then this is actually more value-aligned, at least on the surface, with 4chan interests.

I don't think a timeline where bernie had been the 4chan favorite would be inconceivable.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#12

Post by nobodynoes »

peruvian wrote: post #6
Kec71 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nevertheless, /pol/ and r/the_donald were one of main factors why Donald Trump got elected. This crowdsurfing phenomenon holds tremendous amount of power.

What's crazy is that in the Bush/early Obama years 4chan was fairly liberal in terms of politics.

They don't like being told what to do or say. That's pretty much their main tenet. So when the liberals started policing them they rebelled.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#13

Post by eru »

Kec71 wrote: post #5
peruvian wrote: post #4

I'm definitely falling into the "X.com used to be so much better back then!!" trope but I really hate how much /pol/ culture spread throughout 4chan. I spent a lot of time between 2006-2014 on various boards like /a/, /mu/, /g/, and /int/ until suddenly everyone was an "SJW cuck" and everything was politicized/full of angry wannabe-right wingers. Made me quit the site (well, that and other things). Sometimes you just…

Nevertheless, /pol/ and r/the_donald were one of main factors why Donald Trump got elected. This crowdsurfing phenomenon holds tremendous amount of power.

Citation needed.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#14

Post by rtx »

aphextron wrote: post #10
fiblye wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one important question to ask here is: what caused the huge shift? Because it's something I noticed as well. Something happened that has pushed much of the general internet and large swathes of the "geekier" parts of the net to the right, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. The media ran with the "Russian shills" thing for a while, but it seems to be running out of steam and people I've known for years who…

>I think one important question to ask here is: what caused the huge shift? Because it's something I noticed as well. It was 8 years of a Democratic, fairly liberal president. People like to rebel against whatever is in fashion. The right wing is now "edgy" because it rails against the prevailing political power The generation of kids who are now posting on 4chan grew up in a world defined by the Fox News anti-Obama…

I am not sure why would you call someone who drones children liberal.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#15

Post by digi_owl »

fiblye wrote: post #9
peruvian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's crazy is that in the Bush/early Obama years 4chan was fairly liberal in terms of politics.

I think one important question to ask here is: what caused the huge shift? Because it's something I noticed as well. Something happened that has pushed much of the general internet and large swathes of the "geekier" parts of the net to the right, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. The media ran with the "Russian shills" thing for a while, but it seems to be running out of steam and people I've known for years who…

Rabid SJW busybodies, with Clinton presenting herself as their champion.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#16

Post by KirinDave »

Kec71 wrote: post #5
peruvian wrote: post #4

I'm definitely falling into the "X.com used to be so much better back then!!" trope but I really hate how much /pol/ culture spread throughout 4chan. I spent a lot of time between 2006-2014 on various boards like /a/, /mu/, /g/, and /int/ until suddenly everyone was an "SJW cuck" and everything was politicized/full of angry wannabe-right wingers. Made me quit the site (well, that and other things). Sometimes you just…

Nevertheless, /pol/ and r/the_donald were one of main factors why Donald Trump got elected. This crowdsurfing phenomenon holds tremendous amount of power.

This is a statement without a lot of actual backing. Folks claim it, but it's difficult to prove.

Meanwhile we can prove that Republicans suppressed certain types of voters post VRA-repeal. We can prove that laws banning felons from voting impact some groups more than others (unfairly, I might add). We even have evidence (if not conclusive proof) that spearfishing attacks on US voting staff changed voter rolls.

It is part of /pol & the altright's rhetoric that they're a large and influential body. They certainly can grab media attention. But I don't think we really see them in particular exhibiting political power.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#17

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

fiblye wrote: post #9
peruvian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's crazy is that in the Bush/early Obama years 4chan was fairly liberal in terms of politics.

I think one important question to ask here is: what caused the huge shift? Because it's something I noticed as well. Something happened that has pushed much of the general internet and large swathes of the "geekier" parts of the net to the right, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. The media ran with the "Russian shills" thing for a while, but it seems to be running out of steam and people I've known for years who…

I think it's a combination of several factors:

The skewed, unequal recovery since the recession has tons of people extremely bitter about the state of the economy and our country. Theoretically our economy is doing much better than it was in the 80's, but only a few cities are experiencing growth. This general sense of stress and displeasure among many people amplifies bipartisanship, and our two-party political structure just makes that worse.

Right now, it is mostly seen as bad socially to hold non-PC viewpoints. With increased bipartisanship, it's only natural that the side with non-PC viewpoints would grow on an anonymous forum.

The internet has become a massive avenue for media. People are constantly bombarded with unfiltered, unedited information that shows that our economy isn't for us, the media isn't for us, our employers aren't for us, heck, even our police and neighbors aren't for us. It just amplifies any us-vs-them mentalities that people have.

Propaganda. State actors would aim for media that is both popular and anonymous. 4chan is a great avenue for that.

Liberals and media are running with the propaganda angle because it sounds sexy and starts a faux Cold War, but I really think the real issues are our economy and media. People need to feel safe. If they don't, instability occurs on both sides. Sanders was a huge upset too, and shows us that it's everyone who feels pressured, not just the right.

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#18

Post by digi_owl »

rtx wrote: post #14
aphextron wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think one important question to ask here is: what caused the huge shift? Because it's something I noticed as well. It was 8 years of a Democratic, fairly liberal president. People like to rebel against whatever is in fashion. The right wing is now "edgy" because it rails against the prevailing political power The generation of kids who are now posting on 4chan grew up in a world defined by the Fox News anti-Obama…

I am not sure why would you call someone who drones children liberal.

I find that "liberal" standing alone is useless these days.

You really need to prefix it with "social" or "economic".

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#19

Post by wand3r »

peruvian wrote: post #4

I'm definitely falling into the "X.com used to be so much better back then!!" trope but I really hate how much /pol/ culture spread throughout 4chan. I spent a lot of time between 2006-2014 on various boards like /a/, /mu/, /g/, and /int/ until suddenly everyone was an "SJW cuck" and everything was politicized/full of angry wannabe-right wingers. Made me quit the site (well, that and other things). Sometimes you just…

> x.com used to be better

It did. Elon Musk owned it pre merger with confinity. X.com used to redirect to PayPal; still prob does. So x.com certainly used to be better...

Re: A Study of 4chan’s Politically Incorrect Forum and Its Effects on the Web [pdf]

#20

Post by wyager »

peruvian wrote: post #4

I'm definitely falling into the "X.com used to be so much better back then!!" trope but I really hate how much /pol/ culture spread throughout 4chan. I spent a lot of time between 2006-2014 on various boards like /a/, /mu/, /g/, and /int/ until suddenly everyone was an "SJW cuck" and everything was politicized/full of angry wannabe-right wingers. Made me quit the site (well, that and other things). Sometimes you just…

The /mlp/ cancer was much worse than the /pol/ cancer, and the /pol/ cancer was a predictable outcome of increased censorship by Moot after the whole gamergate silliness.

4chan has definitely gotten worse, but /pol/ is just a small part of it. The single worst factor in the last 5 years is (I suspect) the normalization of Reddit and the massive exodus from Reddit to historically "weirder" websites, including 4chan. The existing culture wasn't big enough/viral enough to successfully integrate/indoctrinate the new users.

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