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Interview: Ask Christopher "moot" Poole About 4chan and Social Media
Having started 4chan when he was 15, Christopher Poole, better known as "moot", is indirectly responsible for almost every meme you've ever seen. The group "Anonymous" originated on 4chan and has since engaged in a number of well-publicized publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service attacks. Thanks to users gaming the system, moot was famously voted the world's most influential person of 2008 in an open internet poll conducted by Time magazine. He is an advocate of online anonymity and speaks on the importance of privacy online to foster creativity and open discussion. moot has agreed to answer your questions about 4chan, social media, and privacy. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Fucking magnets. How do they work?
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
How badly do you think it sucks?
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Fucking Magnets!!! shit I missed.
Canvas (site, not the HTML5 element) and DrawQuest were killed earlier this year. I used it briefly in its beta form and thought it was a neat idea. Any chance you could elaborate on why it was shut down? The e-mail I got was brief and vague -- were you facing copyright issues? Monetization problems? Image space issues? Care to spill your lessons learned?
My work here is dung.
Why does setting up a website that's basically an English version of 2ch make you on expert on what its users do with it? If I want to know how cars work, I'm not going to learn much from the guy who invented (copied, really) the wheel.
We're super big fans of C&Ds here and I would like to know what happened with your C&D to Moot.it. How did it come about and what was the resolution?
My work here is dung.
it would have been funnier if you weren't an AC.
What is the impact of adblockers on your website?
How much money have you made from 4chan?
Obviously there's a lot of discussion of unsavory things that 4chan has done. You obviously haven't shut down the site, but overall, do you think 4chan has a net positive or negative effect on the internet as a whole?
You founded 4chan. Care to elaborate on any of the undoubtedly countless times shit has gotten real?
You know, things you wouldn't tell WSJ when you were seeking solvency but are juicy crazy stories?
My work here is dung.
How many times have you given 4chan poster/visitor data to the authorities, or do you simply allow them to examine logs in real time?
Do you ever feel responsible or bad for all the lives 4chan have ruined?
I mean there's a lot of anons that have a very unhealthy relationship to their favourite board and spends most of their waking time posting.
How often to you get political pressure to take down /b/, and 4chan as a whole? Also, what is your favorite board?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
Having webm videos on 4chan, what do you think of usage of plugins like flash on websites in 2014, like / for. video?
PDF support is already included on some board, like the papercraft board, but I think it would be a good edition to the /diy/ board as many instructions and useful books are in PDF. Could you please enable it?
What was the first post you made on the internet?
Did 4chan brought you more happiness than pain/anxiety since it's beginning ? How is it going today?
Thanks to "The Fappening" event in the last couple of days 4chan has gone mainstream in newspapers, tv, and other media.
What are your feelings about it?
What is your take on the censoring of /v/ during the Quinngate scandal? Was the deletion of threads a coordinated effort, or rather the work of one rogue mod?
A common mode of operation seems to be this:
1) A Bad Thing (TM) happens. Recent example: Leaking of private photos.
2) The culprit is identified in real life by someone doing "detective work". E.g. identifying BluntMastermind as Bryan Hamade
3) Anonymous people release a shitstorm on that person, through harassment and stalking, in real life.
Step 2 opens the evidence to the public, which is good. However, in step 3, the actor is not the police/justice system, but vigilantes who take the punishing into their own hand. The rights of the accused are completely ignored, and he/she has no way of defense. A number of people who have, innocently become victims of this, have told their story.
What do you think of this development of side-stepping the justice system, and online vigilantes? Is it due to disappointment in the police and justice system? Is it human nature that comes out in large, anonymous groups (Elias Canetti comes to mind)?
Now I am not arguing against anonymity. Anonymity online certainly has a important place on the Internet. However I would like to understand why this is happening, and whether you think cybermobs automatically arise with Anonymity.
Even though 4Chan can rightly be considered the black hole of the internet, it can also be argued that 4Chan is one of the greatest bastions of free speech we have. If enough oppositional clout arises to seriously threaten a shutdown of 4Chan, is there a defense plan? Or a back-up plan? I would hate to see it go away without some sort of fight, or a way to resurrect it somewhere else.
Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
That NSA and GCHQ are able to monitor 4Chan and track who the "anonymous" posters are?
Best Slashdot Co
Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
My guess is psychopath. He's just too smart to be a politician and doesn't dress well enough to be a CEO.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
There's been a lot of talk about the 4chan moderation lately and a lot of users seem to feel like the moderation has been too heavy on several boards, especially regarding certain subjects. There's also been a lot of accusations of there being too many SJW and normalfag janitors who supposedly make the boards more friendly towards their ideals and their kind of people (the thought of which, for obvious reasons, easily upsets a lot of 4channers).
What is your take on these accusations, do you agree that the moderation has taken a turn to be more inclusive and if so, is it a conscious effort? If not, what do you think about the current state of moderation and do you have any plans for the future? Heck, are you even involved in any moderating decisions?
Now that CAPTCHAs have been in place for some time now, do you think you'll ever unban Tor IPs from 4chan, for true anonymity?
You claim to be an advocate for privacy and anonymity but people seem to constantly be using 4chan to invade others privacy, doxing them and, most recently, releasing large quantities of previous private photos. While I understand you're not directly responsible for the actions of your users, does it bother you that people are using the forum you created to do things that appear to violate your core beliefs and the reasons you created it in the first place?
... the cesspool of the internet?
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1...
http://gawker.com/5693962/4cha...
Linux linux linux linux linux bitcoin linux.
What exactly do you do to limit any liability you may have for the content posted on /b/? Particularly, CP.
Also, can you finally tell us, who was phone?
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
By giving it a bad name?
Huh? He's not Ayn Rand.
>:)
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I'd like to add that if needed, Moot should feel free to copy Linus Torvalds' response to this question.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Maybe he didn't last week, but this week, the FBI may do it for him.
So, for Moot, do you see this weekend's celeb photo dump as threatening the continued existence of 4chan as we know it? Will you change the site policies in response?
I can see the fnords!
when you realized your audience/community had grown into a part of popular culture, unlikely to ever go away?
If he's such an advocate of online anonymity, then how do we know that it's really him?
I know this /. topic is just for controversy and "laffs" because of the Fappening so I'm just going to post links to the classic Morning Glory Comics archives because they are so offensive and hilarious. Here you go Internet:
http://morningglory.excision-g...
http://lolokaust.com/morning/a...
When are you going to lift my ban?
Have gnu, will travel.
I hear that, as of right now, posting one of the noodies of Jennifer Lawrence is an autoban ticket. As far as I know posting one without modifying it a little is impossible... Why? I know that you value the "organized anarchy" and self moderation of 4chan in general, and /b/ in particular, and I do understand the necessity of at least making sure that no CP is posted there (who am I kidding?) and I will not question that. But don't you think that the autoban on JLaw noodies might be the start of a trend? What will happen next when X decides to force your hand and ask for an autoban on his images too since, after all, JLaw already did it.
What are your thoughts on the "Quinnspiracy"?
While 4chan may be a cesspool of filth and depravity I have found some beautiful and interesting things I would have never known existed. I know it's a matter of taste, but what do you think the ratio of garbage to worthwhile content is on the site as a whole? Which board has the highest garbage content and which has the highest worthwhile content?
-AlPhAbEt
Thing is, the leak didn't originate at 4Chan. Of course the pics were re-posted there quickly, but they were re-posted in many other places as well - Reddit for one.
The FBI would never shut down 4Chan. Why would they? They have everyone who posts there centralized in one place where they can easily keep an eye on the rather than spread across the net...
I do not speak for m00t, Anonymous, or anyone else, but I think that here it might possibly be more appropriate to phrase that as "unsavory things that some of 4chan's users have done."
4chan has been a popular high-trafic site for a while now. I'm curious: how many buyout offers have you received from outside parties? Who were they and how much did they offer?
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
/)
A lot of interesting and infamous material ends up on 4chan, some of which might be illegal in certain jurisdictions for reasons ranging from copyright infringement to child pornography.
Have any of the 4chan staff/admins think they've found a real honeypot on the site created by a government or corporation with the intent to prosecute or harass 4chan users (or the site/owners itself)? If so, what actions did you take?
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
/)
Do you see some of the things that happened on 4chan in a different light?
Be it fad, image, or rule 34?
Is /b/ screened and moderated directly by a government agency?
Just kidding, I know you can't seriously answer this. I wish you could, though.
How long have the FBI and/or other authorities had a back door into 4Chan? Or aren't you permitted to comment.
Please take your SJW bullshit back to Tumblr.
/pol/ doesn't give anything legitimacy because it's fucking /pol/. It was specifically created as a containment board for all the fucking idiots who inhabit /pol/ to go so that they wouldn't shit up the rest of 4chan. /pol/ is a joke, and the delicious multi-layered irony is that both the denizens of /pol/ don't realize it, and that SJW's like you don't realize it.
/pol/ does the exact opposite of what you accuse it of; it's a running gag even on 4chan, and so it strips any and all legitimacy from anything posted there.
Serious question: Although I rarely troll myself, I rather do enjoy reading troll posts, and enjoy trolling if I can get the chance. That said, governments around the world are seriously considering making trolling a criminal offense; some already have. Have you thought about how this might affect 4chan? Or in the case where people post material that is illegal in their or even your hosted countr(ies) have they ever tried to make any kind of sanctions?
If you think the mods and janitors on /b/ are on top of all of the pedophile activity, you're nuts.
Excuse Mr. Horse, but what were your feelings about that fall?
Even though 4Chan can rightly be considered the black hole of the internet
That's actually pretty generous. Usually I hear 4chan referred to in the context of it being another kind of "hole" of the internet.
How would you react if 4chan had a mass emigration and moved to... let's say 7chan or such? I've heard OpenChan is becoming more popular.
Why on earth doesn't 4chan allow tor submissions if you are such an advocate for online anonymity. The bans doesn't work anyway (proxies) and illegal material is posted all the times. Why should only users with access to vpns, proxies etc. have the ability to truly post anonymously on 4chan? Is this a deal with the fbi/nsa?
Can you share your views and feelings on how the popular culture of b/ros have evolved since this board started?
For instance (and I make up the following, I really don't know):
Would you say that ... ...
- at the begining people posting there were a mix of childish nerds, internet power user, and
- then arround 2005-2006 a nucleus of posters got a solid 4chan centric culture, characterized by such and such
- and after the xxx case 4chan draw enough attention to get a bunch of occasional tourist posters, contaminated by a small but steady stream of deviant cp-esque posts.
- etc
Anyone who has visited the /b/ board cannot help but notice the over representation of pathological personalities. Do you feel that the 4chan /b/ board provides these folks with a form of supervised club house? Ok, they may get up to all forms of undesirable behaviour, but at least it is out in the open and there is some form of supervision (from moderators and others monitoring the board).
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
As I typed my other question, I couldn't help but wonder whether you wished there was more (positive) publicity for the other 4chan boards? For example,the folks on /diy/ are incredibly talented and creative and just once it would be nice to read an article covering the positive side of 4chan.
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Because it sure looks like you spawned a Stand Alone Complex, and that has to feel weird.
-Hentai [in vita non pacem est]
...and yet, I still see it regularly.
I would think that if it could survive pedo and other unlawful pics being posted it can survive this.
I report what appears to be illegal content, yes.
I minimize threads containing the "why the fuck is this legal" content.