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Comment by maresca | Hacker News Reader

I went to Startup School in New York last year and saw moot there. While outside between presentations, someone in the crowd called out "Chris, Chris Poole!" and some other memes at him. He seemed really put off by it and hightailed it out of there. I'd imagine he gets that often and could understand how that could be draining.

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I would add that in the last couple years, the mood has gone from "4chan is a toilet" to "4chan is hurting people" to "CHRIS POOLE, OWNER OF 4CHAN, MUST BE PERSONALLY HELD ACCOUNTABLE." The tide has turned, he is probably being ostracized in social settings, and he is getting out while the getting's good.

That's something that I haven't seen mentioned yet: The last few years, Moot has appeared to have nothing but contempt for the people who post on his site. I imagine a decade of being marinated in the worst the internet has to offer would do that to anybody.

He did create that cesspit and allowed it to thrive and attract the dredges of society. Not until 6 or 7 years into the site did he decide to crack down on the cp posted there. He definitely deserves ridicule.

I do think he deserves ridicule, but not for that. He stood up for the ideals of free, anonymous speech. He believed in it. But he eventually buckled under the weight of it. He was a hero for holding out as long as he did, but all heroes fall. What he's become now is worthy of ridicule.

Interested readers should note that

1. it's impossible to satisfy this poster and their parent at the same time.

2. but both of them will hate you either way.

This leads to an important customer service technique I've learned, which is that if you slightly inconvenience the most difficult people they'll just leave and you'll be left with less demanding customers who will actually appreciate you.

If 4chan was a traditional for profit business, I would agree with you. That's not what 4chan is, though. Moot's given talks on the value of anonymous conversation. His view was that it's the only way to have truly free speech, free of racial, social or sexual bias. Where ideas and ideas alone are exchanged. I imagine his opinion on that has changed over the years. That's fine. But in the process, he alienated the very people he created the site for, his core audience.

Ridicule is a natural response to perceived betrayal.

PS: the downvote brigading here is getting out of hand.

moot created the cesspit that is 4chan's social culture like an agar filled petri dish creates microorganisms.

it's a funny concept to me that people should be held personally accountable for the possibly unlawful actions that people within their system take.

It saddens me that the proprietor of any site which prioritizes the users' freedom to be personally liable for their own actions are always painted broadly by the darkest actions taken by their user base. "Moot>4chan>CP+Gore", or "Bitcoin>Silkroad>Drugs/Assassination" seems to be the most wildly echoed opinions, while totally ignoring all the positive points of any such system.

It's a shame, and will probably lead to all such systems being eradicated eventually.

Does he deserve ridicule for creating one of the few big internet communities where free speech means something? I think he deserves some credit for enduring all these years of enduring the hate of anybody offended by something posted on 4chan.

He would, if he'd stood by it. But honestly, after everything that's gone down on 4chan over the years, he decides that gamergate is the line in the sand where he starts banning? That not only undermines any commitment to free speech, it puts the things he previously permitted in a different light - he believes in actively censoring certain legal discussion topics, but he allowed xyz?

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