Imageboard

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

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

 

A diagram of a typical tripcode derivation process

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

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

2ch

Main article: Dvach

Not to be confused with 2channel, a Japanese textboard.

Dvach, Russian: двач, romanized: dvách^[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

Main article: 420chan

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 was based on Futaba Channel (2chan.net), a Japanese image bulletin board which in turn had been established by users from 2channel (now 5channel).

4chan

Main article: 4chan

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

Main article: 8chan

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

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

Main article: Futaba Channel

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

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

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

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

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-Württemberg 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

Wizardchan is an imageboard primarily dedicated to male incel culture and topics including anime, hobbies, and depression. Users on the depression board often discuss 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

• Anonymous (group)
• Textboard
• Reddit

Citations

1. ""Meriken's Tripcode Engine" is a cross-platform custom tripcode generator.: meriken/merikens-tripcode-engine-v3". 26 March 2019 – via GitHub.
2. "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.
3. "Frequently Asked Questions". 4chan. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Breland, Ali (2019-08-15). "How QAnon will outlive 8Chan". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
7. Двач. Lurkmore (in Russian). Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
8. "Геты 2ch.hk". Lurkmore.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "//Б/ред/ - че было в". Двач.
10. "2ch.hk". Lurkmore (in Russian). Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
11. "Mail.ru защитила "Двач" от DDoS-атаки". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-10-02.
12. Olson, Parmy (4 August 2013). We Are Anonymous. Random House. ISBN 9781448136155. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
13. "How imageboard culture shaped Gamergate / Boing Boing". boingboing.net. 31 December 2014.
14. "Taimapedia - 420chan". Retrieved 28 March 2015.
15. Michaels, Sean (2008-03-19). "Taking the Rick". Music.guardian.co.uk. London. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
16. . freep.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
17. . Vitalsecurity.org. 2006-01-09. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
18. Bertiaux, Michaël (2006-01-09). "Ebaumsworld assiégé" (in French). Le Lézard. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
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.
20. Popkin, Helen A.S. (August 31, 2010). . MSNBC Technology. MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
21. "Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language", Tamara Ikenberg, The News Journal, 9 July 2007
22. Richards, Paul (2007-11-14). . The Daily Pennsylvanian. Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
23. Steel, Sharon (2008-02-01). . The Phoenix. Archived from the original on 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
24. Howell O'Neill, Patrick (November 17, 2014). "8chan, the central hive of Gamergate, is also an active pedophile network". The Daily Dot.
25. Brace, Dr Lewys (2021-04-01). "The Role of the Chans in the Far-Right Online Ecosystem". GNET. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
26. "8chan, 8kun, 4chan, Endchan: What you need to know". CNET. 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
27. "Norway mosque attack: Bruised suspect Manshaus appears in court". BBC News. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
28. Liyanage, Chamila (2020-01-09). "Endchan: narratives of the Chanosphere". Center for Analysis of the Radical Right. openDemocracy. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
29. Schattleitner, Christoph (2019-09-08). "Inside "Endchan": Im Maschinenraum des Rechtsterrors". Kurier (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2024-03-12.
30. "Variations on a Theme? Comparing 4chan, 8kun, and Other chans' Far-Right "/pol" Boards" (PDF). Perspectives on Terrorism. 15 (1). Retrieved 2024-03-12.
31. "双葉ちゃん♪". 2chan.net. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
32. "Hispachan's History". Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
33. "This Murder Has Exposed the Dark Side of Mexico's Hacking Community", News.vice.com
34. "Agresor en colegio de Monterrey pudo anunciar ataque en foro" Excelsior. (in Spanish)
35. "Hispachan: el foro español donde se difunden imágenes sexuales de mujeres y menores sin que nadie lo impida", Vice.com
36. "Se anuncia el cierre de hispachan. Se podrá responder en la pagina hasta el 31 de mayo en la noche. De ahí permanecerá 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.
37. Mok, Benjamin (2022). "Exploring Hindutva Online Subculture". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses. 14 (3): 9–16. ISSN 2382-6444. JSTOR 48676736.
38. "Freedom and taboos in the international ghettos of the web – OILab". 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
39. "Koniec żartów z prezydenta Dudy. Policja przeszukała mieszkanie internauty. Prokuratura wszczęła śledztwo". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
40. Świderski, Bartosz. "Hejt na Filipa Chajzera to zorganizowana akcja Karachana. Sianie zamętu sprawia trollom największą przyjemność". NaTemat.
41. "Tak zaczęło się obrażanie zmarłego syna Chajzera: "To co, szkalujemy? ZIEJMY NIENAWIŚCIĄ!"". pudelek.pl (in Polish). 22 July 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
42. "Hejt pod wpisem Filipa Chajzera o śmierci syna to zaplanowana akcja. 'Karaczan wkracza do akcji'. A to nie wszystko". plotek.pl (in Polish). 21 July 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
43. Chmielecka, Julia. "Trolle i zlewy". Gazeta Wyborcza.
44. "Trolling level: master. To Karachan stoi za filmikiem "Mój sąsiad imigrant"". naTemat.pl. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
45. "Scenariusz jak z horroru w Rybniku. Ktoś włamał się na konto zabitej 17-latki i straszy pół miasta. Psychopata czy żart?". naTemat.pl. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
46. "Tak wyglądała ostatnia noc Alicji". nowiny.pl. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
47. "Jak wejść na Karachan". facebook.com/jakwejsc/ (in Polish). 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
48. Reißmann, Ole; Stöcker, Christian (20 February 2012). We are Anonymous: Die Maske des Protests - Wer sie sind, was sie antreibt ... Goldmann Verlag. p. 22. ISBN 9783641083748. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
49. . May 15, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-05-15.
50. "Massacre in Winnenden: School Shooting Internet Post a Fake". Spiegel Online. March 13, 2009.
51. Roth, Daniel (2012). Zündstoff für den "Columbine-Effekt"? Die Berichterstattung über School Shootings in deutschen Print- und Online-Medien. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 116. ISBN 9783643113948. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
52. "German police now question whether killer posted warning". CNN. March 12, 2009.
53. . December 25, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-12-25.
54. Hess, Amanda (3 March 2015). "Please Do Not Downvote Anyone Who's Asked for Help". Slate.

External links

• Overscript—a list of imageboard software
• AllChans - OverChan V.3—a list of imageboards