Spend enough time on 4chan and you'll realize reddit is a safezone kid gloves hug box.
And 4chan isn't even that bad in terms of bad or illegal content so that goes to show how relative it all is.
And 4chan isn't even that bad in terms of bad or illegal content so that goes to show how relative it all is.
/g/ is actually quite useful and friendly, especially the DPT (Daily Programming Thread), more-so if you're a beginner.
/trv/ (travel) is just good and perfectly slow where you won't feel pressure to keep up with a thread because it will still be there tomorrow.
/fit/ has good information and really encapsulates what happens when the internet meets bro-gym culture.
Compared to parts of Reddit, I would honestly take 4chan over it. I mean even some of the formerly "default" sub-Reddits are cesspools of hatred with the occasional call for targeted violence and Moderators who will ban you by association. Some of the big sub-Reddits openly discriminate based on race.
I know journalists have zero motivation to investigate sub-Reddits or the incestous circle of Reddit moderators that control the groupthink in most of the major sub-Reddits, but one day that will come out and it will be an internet scandal. If they time it right it could sink any hope of an IPO or serious monetization.
You can have a normal thread where someone will casually drop the N word or other slur and it will just sit there, maybe not even acknowledged but also not downvoted or deleted.
That alone is enough to turn people off immediately. They need that sense of retributive justice for a wrong they see in the universe. You're right that reddit can be just as bigoted than 4chan if not more so but I think you realize it's way more subtle and dogwhistley. The only reason a 4chan post will ever dance around being blunt bigotry is usually for the sake of humor not to ban evade.
Also I can't imagine browsing 4chan without something like 4chanX and your average person probably isn't going to bother installing that.
Choosing not to hang out with people who casually use the N-word makes me vindictive?
Well, there is no way to downvote. Point-based systems usually turn out bad if the community is too big. Just check big subreddit like the defaults, posts get too catering to group-think. Not having downvotes or even upvotes, means that you have to deal with crap posts.
For some people 4chan has "upvotes", what they call "(you)"s, basically a reply, people post too much bad content just trying to provoke a reaction.
If I still had an imageboard, it would never implement a feature like that.
Of course, people could still get it from extensions, but not everybody uses them.
Still, the provoking nature on 4chan would still remain even without (you)s as it's the quickest way to get answers.
This means that creating inflammatory posts, sometimes is the only way to get attention, or worse, when you actually want information and you post in a way that would get attention otherwise it would be ignored.
Identity politics usually gives plenty of reactions. Just like calling something bad gets more reactions that call something good. Want opinion on something you want o buy? start a thread calling it shit, and wonder why there are so many bad threads there.
- No "ego"-moderation. Mods and janitors are invisible, and seem to do their jobs well. Compare with the constant mod drama (years of the stuff) on various subreddits.
- No "retaliation culture" via downvotes. If you really really hate something someone said, the worst thing you can do to them is just ignore it.
- No identity. Posting with a name gets you shamed into being anonymous pretty quick unless you have a very good reason to do so. This means there are no karma/score/image issues, you just say what you think.
Like you mentioned, /fit/ and /g/ are great boards. /p/ is solid too if you're into that sort of thing.