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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.
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.
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.
What is the impact of adblockers on your website?
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?
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
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?
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.
on the flip side how do you feel about all the good that has come from the site, There are numerous stories about /b/ros helping other /b/ros in the news, or when anon goes after pedophiles etc.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
That NSA and GCHQ are able to monitor 4Chan and track who the "anonymous" posters are?
Best Slashdot Co
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?
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...
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.
If he's such an advocate of online anonymity, then how do we know that it's really him?
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
The mods were accused of corruption and the evidence they offered to the contrary is "no we arent"? Are you for real?
http://i.cubeupload.com/T6cyLu.png
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.
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?
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.