janny_throwaway

They do it for free :^)

Unlike reddit, 4chan is not a popularity contest. There are no likes or upvotes that dictate what you see; everyone in a thread sees the same content. Furthermore, there are no persistent identities, so you have no way of gauging the value of someone's post other than by examining its content. I think this dynamic is what made 4chan such a creative force: the only way for a post to "live" longer than one thread was to make it memetic, remixable, broadly applicable.

What I really like about 4chan nowadays is the pace. When a new episode of my favorite show is out, or when the Super Bowl is on, or when a presidential candidate says something stupid, I know there will be a thread about it. At times, it's almost like we're all in the same room together. Having browsed for 7 years now, it really does feel like home to me.

>On 4chan, you're literally a janitor. On reddit, you're a janitor and you're also responsible for community building and everything that comes along with that. It's your community and if you don't build it, nobody will come.

That's a fair point. I was mostly addressing the comment about "barrier to entry," since the barrier to entry on 4chan is essentially nil. Without anything resembling an account history, there's a huge amount of impersonation, which makes for a challenging social dynamic.

> If you do something unpopular, you will get witch-hunted by reddit's masses

Interestingly, my janitor handle was leaked at one point, and despite it being just a few hops away from my real identity, I never experienced any harassment. I can only assume it's because I wasn't much of a target; 4chan doesn't tell you who was responsible for your ban, so only moot and a few of the more outspoken mods attracted the attention of the mob.

Lovely. Reminds me of this quote from Lorraine Daston:

  The marvel that stopped us in our tracks—an aurora borealis, cognate words in
  languages separated by continents and centuries, the peacock’s tail—becomes
  only an apparent marvel once explained. Aesthetic appreciation may linger…but
  composure has returned. We are delighted but no longer discombobulated; what
  was once an earthquake of the soul is subdued into an agreeable frisson.… The
  more we know, the less we wonder.

I feel this personally when learning a new piece of music. All the gestalt beauty drains out as the song is reduced to a mountain to be conquered rather than a landscape to be appreciated. By the time I've memorized all the notes, a grim irony sets in: when I listen to a recording of the piece, I am no longer capable of hearing what I initially set out to replicate.

>primarily due to seeing the kind of place you get when the barrier for entry is non existent.

you think reddit's bad, try 4chan!

I was 4chan "janitor" (lesser-mod) for 18 months or so and I agree, these sorts of positions really twist your perception of the community you're moderating. When you're buried in reports -- and these are 4chan reports, which means not just spam, but gore, cp, raids, etc. -- it becomes all too easy to dole out harsh penalties to people who may have just made an honest mistake. I essentially stopped browsing 4chan for fun; I saw it only through the lens of the janitor interface.

Chris, to his credit, frequently expressed his gratitude to the volunteer staff for doing what he knew was a thankless, soul-crushing job. He wondered aloud why we didn't go volunteer our time at a puppy shelter or something instead. I'm sure he asked himself that question too.

I'm no longer in that position; I outed myself as a janitor and was immediately terminated. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not really suited for these sorts of roles. Having access to privileged information and special powers makes me uncomfortable. The good news is that I've recently returned to 4chan as a regular, anonymous user, and I'm really enjoying it. I hope Chris experiences something similar. He deserves it.