Type of Internet forum
An
imageboard
is a type of
Internet forum
that focuses on the posting of images, often alongside text and discussion. The first imageboards were created in Japan as an extension of the
textboard
concept. These sites later inspired the creation of a number of
English-language
imageboards.
Characteristics
[
edit
]
Imageboards, similar to
bulletin board systems
, are used for discussions of a variety of topics. The primary focus of imageboards, however, is directed away from text posts, and is instead placed on picture posts. The two share many of the same structures, including separate forums for separate topics, as well as similar audiences. Imageboards are much more transitory with content?on some boards (especially highly trafficked ones), the thread deletion time can be as little as 10 minutes. In Japan, where imageboards are more common,
[
citation needed
]
topics will vary widely, ranging from trains to current news. The most popular English language imageboard,
4chan
, similarly has a large variety of topics.
Imageboards are also different from
online galleries
in that most of the works posted are not made by the poster, but instead are taken from other online sources: galleries, other imageboards, and edited pictures.
Tripcodes
[
edit
]
Most imageboards and
2channel
-style discussion boards allow (and encourage)
anonymous posting
and use a system of
tripcodes
instead of registration. A tripcode is the
hashed
result of a password that allows one's identity to be recognized without storing any data about users. Entering a particular password will let one "sign" one's posts with the tripcode generated from that password. Trying to take another user's tripcode and compute their password from it (for instance, to make posts that appear to come from a particular person) is somewhat computationally difficult. For those who want a custom tripcode, however, there are custom tripcode generators (which are technically tripcode crackers) available, such as Meriken's Tripcode Engine
[1]
and MTY_CL.
[2]
In general, anonymity is considered to be one of the advantages of an imageboard, and some boards have from time to time removed the ability to post with a name altogether (known as "forced anonymous/anonymity").
Secure tripcodes
[
edit
]
Due to the fact tripcodes can be cracked given enough time, some imageboards, such as
4chan
and
8chan
, implement a "secure" tripcode.
[3]
Such tripcodes are not reproducible across different imageboards; they work by prepending a
secure salt
to the tripcode, barring
intrusion
, known only to the server owner.
[3]
They therefore function closer to a
username
than to a cryptographic signature; this is why
QAnon
could not verify themselves on another website when 8chan went down in late 2019.
[4]
[5]
[6]
Imageboards
[
edit
]
Dvach
,
Russian
:
двач
,
romanized
:
dvach
[7]
is a Russian imageboard that replaced 2ch.ru imageboard (originally known as dvach) which was shut down earlier on January 17, 2009; it thoroughly copied original
layout
and was heavily advertised over the internet and managed to succeed the original one in popularity.
[8]
According to its owners number of posts left in the /b/ board exceeded 150 million.
[9]
In September 2016 a pro-Russian government organisation,
[
clarification needed
]
Mail.ru
, helped to organize "defense" against alleged DDOS attacks that took place during the same month; events raised concerns and speculations among users who grew suspicious over alleged takeover committed by Mail.ru and who criticized the owner's controversial decision to accept "help".
[10]
[11]
As of October 2018 It was widely believed that imageboard was simply "sold" on undisclosed terms to pro-government organisation. The decision was met with high criticism of risks of
disclosure
of users' credentials in inherently anonymous-community to the government body that could potentially violate principles of anonymity, causing many to leave the board by the end of 2016. By 2019 it remains among the largest active Russian-speaking imageboards.
[
citation needed
]
420chan
[
edit
]
An English-language imageboard based on
cannabis
culture
[12]
which was created on 20 April 2005 by
Aubrey Cottle
. The name is a reference to the larger 4chan
[13]
and the code term
420
of the cannabis
subculture
. Its boards included various drug-specific boards,
[12]
as well as a board featuring a
chatbot
named Netjester.
[14]
4chan
[
edit
]
4chan is an English-language imageboard based on the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel. This imageboard is based primarily upon the posting of pictures (generally related to a wide variety of topics, from
video games
and popular culture to politics and
sports
) and their discussion.
The Guardian
describes it as "at once brilliant, ridiculous and alarming."
[15]
The site and its userbase have received attention from the media for a number of reasons, including attacks against
Hal Turner
on his Internet shows,
[16]
distributed denial-of-service attacks
against
eBaum's World
,
[17]
[18]
taking part in
Project Chanology
,
[19]
and multiple cases of
anti-animal abuse reports
.
[20]
Many
Internet memes
have originated there, including
lolcats
,
[21]
[22]
[23]
rickrolling
, and
Pedobear
.
8chan
[
edit
]
8chan (or Infinitechan, later 8kun) is a primarily English-language imageboard, although it has sub-boards dedicated to other languages. Just like 4chan, 8chan is based on posting pictures and discussion anonymously, but unlike 4chan, 8chan lets its users decide what they want to discuss by allowing any user to create their own board dedicated to any topic, a concept first made popular by news bulletin boards like
Reddit
. 8chan also claims to have a strong dedication to freedom of speech and allows all content—so long as the discussion and board creation abides by United States law.
[24]
However, local moderators enforce the rules of their own boards and may delete posts as they see fit. It is currently partnered with the Japanese
textboard
2channel
.
Endchan
[
edit
]
Endchan is an English-language imageboard.
[25]
The perpetrator of the 2019
Baerum mosque shooting
announced it on the website. The administrators claimed the thread was deleted immediately, and the site had its primary
web domain
taken offline following the attack.
[26]
[27]
The site has a message of "This is the End" displayed on it.
[28]
[29]
Endchan has a /pol/ board, which was described as "eclectic" in its topic of discussions compared to similar boards on other imageboards. This was described as partially due to its comparative obscurity relative to similar sites.
[30]
It has been noted for its apocalyptic themes and far-right discussion of
civilizational collapse
.
[28]
Futaba Channel
[
edit
]
Futaba Channel
(
Japanese
:
ふたば☆ちゃんねる
), or "Futaba" for short, is a popular, anonymous BBS and imageboard system based in Japan. Its boards usually do not distinguish between
not safe for work
and
clean
content, but there is a strict barrier between two-dimensional (drawn) and three-dimensional (
computer graphics
(CG) and photographic) pictures that is heavily enforced and debated.
[31]
Hispachan
[
edit
]
Hispachan was launched in November 2012
[32]
founded by Juanjo Escofet Carmona, running on a slightly modified version of Kusaba X, was a global imageboard for
all Spanish-speaking countries
.
Vice Magazine
describes it as "a site for completely anonymous Spanish-language discussion that has proven popular among hackers since its launch in 2012".
[33]
In January 2017,
a shooting in a school
in
Monterrey
,
Mexico
was previously announced on Hispachan.
[34]
In June 2019,
Vice
accused some Hispachan discussions of being "collaborative
misogyny
".
[35]
In May 2022, Hispachan officially announced its closure on Twitter, it was temporarily available for a few days until all of its content was permanently deleted.
[36]
Indiachan
[
edit
]
Indiachan was an
anonymous
Indian imageboard inspired by
4chan
and
8chan
. It was created in 2016 by a user named
lungimoot
or
lungoot
. The primary languages used were English and
Hinglish
.
[37]
[38]
Karachan
[
edit
]
Karachan is the largest Polish imageboard at 20 million posts, founded in 2010. Karachan has received attention from the Polish media after many
trolling
actions targeting Polish politicians,
[39]
journalists
[40]
[41]
[42]
and the Pope
John Paul II
.
[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
As of July 2019 the site consists of a (Polish-language) faux page claiming the site is "blocked" due to "invalid content". However, a manual is known to exist, informing how to enter the actual forum and browse its contents.
[47]
Its name comes from the Polish word
karaczan
, which means a
cockroach
, an insect that is used as Karachan's logo.
Krautchan
[
edit
]
Krautchan.net was a mainly German-language imageboard, founded in 2007.
[48]
[49]
The name is an allusion to the
ethnophaulism
Kraut
for Germans. Unlike most imageboards, posters on Krautchan did not publish their postings under the generic name "Anonymous". The German name "
Bernd
" was used instead, and the Krautchan community identified themselves as "Bernds" instead of "Anons". In 2009, after the
Winnenden school shooting
, the interior minister of
Baden-Wurttemberg
cited a post on the imageboard in a press conference that appeared to forewarn of the shooting, but was later found to be fake.
[50]
[51]
[52]
Like most imageboards, it had an /a/, a /b/, a /jp/, an /x/ and a /tv/; it ran on the Desuchan board software.
[53]
The site also featured a popular
English-language
board, /int/, which was also the origin of the
Polandball
internet phenomenon
and a number of other popular
memes
such as
Wojak
in August the same year. On March 21, 2018, the imageboard was shut down. Two days later the imageboard
kohlchan
was founded as a replacement.
Wizardchan
[
edit
]
Wizardchan was an imageboard primarily dedicated to male incel culture and topics including anime, hobbies, and depression. Users on the depression board often discussed suicide or
self-harm
, and a controversy emerged in the board's community about whether to refer users to
suicide prevention hotlines
.
[54]
See also
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
"
"Meriken's Tripcode Engine" is a cross-platform custom tripcode generator.: meriken/merikens-tripcode-engine-v3"
. 26 March 2019 – via
GitHub
.
- ^
"A custom tripcode searcher, written using OpenCL. Primarily targeting the GCN architectures (Radeon HD 77xx and later).: madsbuvi/MTY_CL"
. 9 March 2019 – via GitHub.
- ^
a
b
"Frequently Asked Questions"
.
4chan
. Retrieved
2020-08-21
.
- ^
Roose, Kevin (2021-01-17).
"What Is QAnon, the Viral Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory?"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2021-01-21
.
Each of these sites uses a system of identity verification known as a 'tripcode'?essentially, a username that proves that a series of anonymous posts were written by the same person or people.
- ^
Glaser, April (2019-11-11).
"8chan Is Back as 8kun. Its Racist Users Found New Homes While It Was Offline"
.
Slate Magazine
. Retrieved
2020-08-21
.
- ^
Breland, Ali (2019-08-15).
"How QAnon will outlive 8Chan"
.
Mother Jones
. Retrieved
2020-10-01
.
- ^
Двач
.
Lurkmore
(in Russian). Archived from
the original
on February 18, 2013
. Retrieved
2018-10-02
.
- ^
"Геты 2ch.hk"
.
Lurkmore
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"//Б/ред/ - че было в"
.
Двач
.
- ^
"2ch.hk"
.
Lurkmore
(in Russian). Archived from
the original
on September 21, 2015
. Retrieved
2018-10-02
.
- ^
"Mail.ru защитила "Двач" от DDoS-атаки"
.
Meduza
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
2018-10-02
.
- ^
a
b
Olson, Parmy (4 August 2013).
We Are Anonymous
. Random House.
ISBN
9781448136155
. Retrieved
28 March
2015
.
- ^
"How imageboard culture shaped Gamergate / Boing Boing"
.
boingboing.net
. 31 December 2014.
- ^
"Taimapedia - 420chan"
. Retrieved
28 March
2015
.
- ^
Michaels, Sean (2008-03-19).
"Taking the Rick"
.
Music.guardian.co.uk
. London
. Retrieved
2011-09-29
.
- ^
"Cyber foes find ways to silence hate-talk radio host"
. freep.com. Archived from
the original
on September 29, 2007
. Retrieved
2007-02-28
.
- ^
"Lindsay Lohan causes massive DoS war"
. Vitalsecurity.org. 2006-01-09. Archived from
the original
on 2022-01-05
. Retrieved
2008-01-20
.
- ^
Bertiaux, Michael (2006-01-09).
"Ebaumsworld assiege"
(in French). Le Lezard
. Retrieved
2008-01-19
.
- ^
George-Cosh, David (January 25, 2008).
"Online group declares war on Scientology"
.
National Post
.
Canwest Publishing Inc.
Archived from
the original
on January 28, 2008
. Retrieved
2008-01-25
.
- ^
Popkin, Helen A.S. (August 31, 2010).
"Web video: Woman throws puppies in river, 4chan tracks her down"
.
MSNBC Technology
.
MSNBC.com
. Archived from
the original
on September 10, 2010
. Retrieved
2010-08-31
.
- ^
"Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language", Tamara Ikenberg,
The News Journal
, 9 July 2007
- ^
Richards, Paul (2007-11-14).
"Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus"
.
The Daily Pennsylvanian
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-11-17
. Retrieved
2008-01-19
.
- ^
Steel, Sharon (2008-02-01).
"The cuteness surge"
.
The Phoenix
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-02-13
. Retrieved
2008-02-10
.
- ^
Howell O'Neill, Patrick (November 17, 2014).
"8chan, the central hive of Gamergate, is also an active pedophile network"
.
The Daily Dot
.
- ^
Brace, Dr Lewys (2021-04-01).
"The Role of the Chans in the Far-Right Online Ecosystem"
.
GNET
. Retrieved
2024-03-12
.
- ^
"8chan, 8kun, 4chan, Endchan: What you need to know"
.
CNET
. 2019-11-07
. Retrieved
2024-03-12
.
- ^
"Norway mosque attack: Bruised suspect Manshaus appears in court"
.
BBC News
. 2019-08-12
. Retrieved
2019-08-12
.
- ^
a
b
Liyanage, Chamila (2020-01-09).
"Endchan: narratives of the Chanosphere"
.
Center for Analysis of the Radical Right
.
openDemocracy
. Retrieved
2024-03-12
.
- ^
Schattleitner, Christoph (2019-09-08).
"Inside "Endchan": Im Maschinenraum des Rechtsterrors"
.
Kurier
(in Austrian German)
. Retrieved
2024-03-12
.
- ^
"Variations on a Theme? Comparing 4chan, 8kun, and Other chans' Far-Right "/pol" Boards"
(PDF)
.
Perspectives on Terrorism
.
15
(1)
. Retrieved
2024-03-12
.
- ^
"?葉ちゃん♪"
.
2chan.net
. Retrieved
29 July
2022
.
- ^
"Hispachan's History"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 November 2016
. Retrieved
29 July
2022
.
- ^
"This Murder Has Exposed the Dark Side of Mexico's Hacking Community"
, News.vice.com
- ^
"Agresor en colegio de Monterrey pudo anunciar ataque en foro"
Excelsior.
(in Spanish)
- ^
"Hispachan: el foro espanol donde se difunden imagenes sexuales de mujeres y menores sin que nadie lo impida"
, Vice.com
- ^
"Se anuncia el cierre de hispachan. Se podra responder en la pagina hasta el 31 de mayo en la noche. De ahi permanecera vivo hasta el 12 de junio pero cerrado. El 12 se eliminara toda la pagina y solo quedara un anuncio con enlaces y texto. Este es el futuro que eligieron"
.
Twitter.com
. Retrieved
29 July
2022
.
- ^
Mok, Benjamin (2022).
"Exploring Hindutva Online Subculture"
.
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
.
14
(3): 9?16.
ISSN
2382-6444
.
JSTOR
48676736
.
- ^
"Freedom and taboos in the international ghettos of the web ? OILab"
. 2018-04-20
. Retrieved
2023-12-20
.
- ^
"Koniec ?artow z prezydenta Dudy. Policja przeszukała mieszkanie internauty. Prokuratura wszcz?ła ?ledztwo"
.
wyborcza.pl
. Retrieved
9 January
2017
.
- ^
?widerski, Bartosz.
"Hejt na Filipa Chajzera to zorganizowana akcja Karachana. Sianie zam?tu sprawia trollom najwi?ksz? przyjemno??"
.
NaTemat
.
- ^
"Tak zacz?ło si? obra?anie zmarłego syna Chajzera: "To co, szkalujemy? ZIEJMY NIENAWI?CI?!"
"
.
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.
- ^
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.
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(in Polish). 21 July 2015
. Retrieved
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2017
.
- ^
Chmielecka, Julia.
"Trolle i zlewy"
.
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.
- ^
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"
.
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2017
.
- ^
"Scenariusz jak z horroru w Rybniku. Kto? włamał si? na konto zabitej 17-latki i straszy poł miasta. Psychopata czy ?art?"
.
naTemat.pl
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.
- ^
"Tak wygl?dała ostatnia noc Alicji"
.
nowiny.pl
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2018
.
- ^
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.
facebook.com/jakwejsc/
(in Polish). 19 October 2019
. Retrieved
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2019
.
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. May 15, 2007. Archived from
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
Slate
.
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