There are no points, only replies. Unpopular opinions aren't hidden. Popular opinions are boring and those threads disappear from a lack of replies. The most provocative threads are the ones which thrive. This is the exact opposite of voting sites like hacker news and Reddit.
We need a place like this to exist where people aren't saddled with long term consequences for making their real opinions known. Users on 4chan are rewarded with replies for thinking outside of the box and breaking rank.
Losing it would be a terrible loss for discourse. Sure there are lots of trolls there. Yes there is lots of racism and offensive content and gore. If you dont like that sort of thing you are free to not go there. But there must be a place for people to hash these ideas out and get unpopular opinions off their chest.
Convenient anonymity on the Internet is dying, and if it does ultimately go so will freedom of speech. Because nobody will be free to speak their mind when a deviant or unpopular opinion may incur the wrath of a targeted campaign against them to destroy their professional and private life at any point in the future. Especially when those opinions which were once common are now out of style. (See Brandon Eich or Palmer Luckey)
The lack of rules and consequences is precisely the reason 4chan has always been a creative powerhouse where trends and content are born at a rate that is unmatched elsewhere. Some of the funniest things I've read have come from the unrestrained banter between people from different countries on the /int/ (international) board.
Despite all this, it's always been difficult to keep that place above water. They need a sort of Reddit gold type epiphany.
Can't you already pay for a 4chan premium account that allows you to... I can't remember, post more, ignore the captcha, etc?
Another person points out that even if you hate 4chan (or especially if you do), it'd be better left intact to contain the culture that foments there. Otherwise we might see /r/The_Donald style posts all over the internet.
In any case, when you avoid the dregs of the site, the other boards can have unique and even informative discussion.
That you are pointing to a subreddit as an example of the problem that might exist elsewhere in the internet if 4chan doesn't survive to "contain the culture that foments there" would seem to indicate that 4chan does not, in fact, effectively contain that culture now.
/r/The_Donald, in turn, drains Trump fans from /r/politics and the like.
Of course, containment isn't perfect.
The situation with 2channel was actually a business dispute, at its core. That's not to say Hiroyuki isn't shady, but Jim Watkins/NTTEC (who played an important part in it, and was on the board of 2channel) was also at fault.
Summary: Jim Watkins's company/NTTEC wrote something like 4chan Premium for 2channel back in the early 00's. This was intended to help keep costs under control, and it succeeded by paying for all of the infrastructure and profiting at some point.
But this was not to continue forever: around '13 the application, which didn't encrypt credit card data and associated all posts made using the application to the individual's real names for an arbitrary period of time, experienced a breach.
Because Hiroyuki had given control of the domains and servers over to Jim Watkins, who had up until that point just been his colo, to dodge legal obligations in Japan, Jim Watkins took over. Hiroyuki had nothing to do with the administration or creation of the software that was breached.
They're shady individuals: both are manipulative (they play dumb) when you try to interact with them on their respective forums. But not knowing the specific timeline or everything that happened in the business dispute, it's hard to say who's more at fault in the 2channel situation.
It might also be important to note that the "legal obligations" that Hiroyuki was dodging in Japan are fines for libel, due to Japan not having an equivalent to the USA's Communications Decency Act §230.
Rather, I find that 4chan and similar places (8chan etc.) dependent of the board, are very good sources for unrestricted discussion. You don't get your post hidden or deleted people it's abhorrent or people disagree with it. You don't get reported or "flagged" because you used some profanity. People don't coast along on high score points. If you screw up you can start again, because you're anonymous anyway, and nobody will care. Nobody will know.
If you don't believe what I'm saying, I'd suggest taking a deeper look at imageboard culture. I've helped people with programming problems and I've been helped by others. I've learned new things and commented on the news. I got into new hobbies. I discovered plenty of music. I discuss my religion; all on 4chan and 8chan.
And before you may be influenced to think I must be a racist or misogynist or "immature" etc. or have such tendencies by virtue of being a user, I will say that I'm a hard-left supporter of equality and rights for all. And I came to that status via debate and learning on the "worst" parts of 4chan.
Take from that what you will, but please do not spread misinformation or unknowingly (if it is unknowingly) perpetuate this culture of fear for 4chan. It's tiring and is one of the causes for 4chan's decline - people are turned away without having ever used the website.
I used to believe this pretty strongly, but lately...I'm already seeing /pol/ style posts all over the internet, despite its existence, so I'm starting to doubt the 'containment board' thesis is valid.
I can't help but to think this is pure fear mongering.
