4chan makes an old man happy, but don’t expect the fluffiness to continue for long
Has 4chan lost its edge? Becoming a forum full of good-hearted people committed to making the world a better place? Don’t bank on it.
4chan is renowned for being a place where only brave souls should dare to venture. Granted it’s only a message and image board, but its users aren’t known for their friendly, welcoming nature. Instead, there’s a Wild West vibe to the place, with an (almost) anything goes approach to what it posted.
4chan is known in the wider Web for starting and propagating several big memes, including Rickrolling and Pedo Bear. And also launching attacks, both serious and in jest, against groups of people or individuals. The list of victims (for want of a better word) includes Sarah Palin and Justin Bieber, the latter being regularly singled out.
However, the last couple of weeks have seen 4chan and its members start to show a more friendly, fluffy side. First came campaigns to name and shame the British woman caught throwing a cat into a bin and to name and shame the Bosnian woman filmed throwing puppies into a river. And now an old man from Massachusetts has been targeted in a good way.
After one member posted a poster they spotted in their local grocery store asking people to attend a birthday party 90-year-old WWII veteran William J. Lashua, 4chan’s /b/ board responded by sending well-wishes, cards, and flowers to the Ashburnham American Legion where the party is being held. Some are even planning on turning up, leading Lashua’s grandson to politely request that they don’t do so.
Gawker asks if this indicates 4chan is turning nice, becoming the good guys of the Internet. But I’m not sure 4chan and its members have ever really been the bad guys, instead merely being agitators determined to shake things up and have some fun for the most part.
This campaign to make an old man happy is heartwarming, and it should bring 4chan some good, positive attention. But I doubt it’s an end to the more subversive elements of the site. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Related Posts:
September 3rd, 2010
Because none of us are as kind as all of us.
September 5th, 2010
were all diffrent though in a very specail way