4chan: Behavior of an anonymous community
Josh Mills
2016-04-17
I chose the community of 4chan to examine for my project. 4chan is a very unique community with many quirks.
Founded by Christopher Poole, 4chan is a online community much like reddit where users can leave posts, though 4chan is unique because everyone on the site is anonymous.
Users are anonymous
Users generally post anonymously, with the most recent posts appearing above the rest. 4chan is split into various boards with their own specific content and guidelines.
Registration is not required, nor is it possible (except for staff). Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for posting pictures and discussing manga
and anime, as the site was modeled on Japanese imageboards, particularly 2chan. The site quickly became popular and expanded, though much of 4chan's content still features
otaku, anime, and other Japanese cultural influences.
Humble beginnings..
Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for posting pictures and discussing manga
and anime, as the site was modeled on Japanese imageboards, particularly 2chan. The site quickly became popular and expanded, though much of 4chan's content still features
otaku, anime, and other Japanese cultural influences.
"lunatic, juvenile... brilliant, ridiculous and alarming."
The Guardian once summarized the community in this way. I would show you examples of the message boards, but I struggled to find any appropriate examples..
So.. what about 4chan is interesting/important?
So what makes the 4chan community important and/or interesting to analyze? So far it just seems to be an X-rated version of Reddit.
Anonymity
4chan is interesting because it serves as a great example as to how a fully anonymous community behaves, where even users are unaware of each other.
Unlike Reddit, which is pseudonymous, 4chan is fully anonymous, as explained by a Reddit user. Here we can see that this user has a username (profile)
and therefore other users are aware of what posts this user makes.
4chan on the other hand does not allow for users to have usernames, and even goes to great measures to protect the anonymity of its users from others (government agencies)
The 4chan platform encourages free speech and anonymity. What is the result of this?
What is the result of 4chan's platform of free speech and anonymity?
We are familiar with the tor network, as we have discussed it several times in class. o Tor can be a tangible example of what anonymity on the Internet
can result in. The question is then, should users have the option to browse and use the Internet anonymously?
Tor can be used for good!
Journalists and their audience use Tor
Law enforcement officers use Tor
Activists & Whistleblowers use Tor
However, Tor can also be used to allow some pretty nasty stuff to take place
A part of the Deepnet is accessed through Tor.
What is the cost of online anonymity to society?
Does the community develop trust? is it an example of a participatory culture?
How does the community develop trust, interact with each other? is it a participatory culture?
You all remember generation like. Generation like shows us how badly some people want to participate.
Social media platforms, especially those, which are anonymous, are a great way for people to join a community,
potentially expressing controversial views or beliefs that they may have. The barriers that may exist for other platforms,
mainly the connection to real-life, do not exist with 4chan.
The Global Village
The Internet has become a global village. The question is whether the strength of a community and the power it holds
is used for good or evil purposes. Now, with 4chan's platform, we see an anonymous global village. This greatly changes
the dynamics of the community because how can you help or look out for your neighbor when they are anonymous?
Does the lack of rules make for the environment and the users and abuse, or did the users mutate the environment to suit them? Was it always this way, or did it evolve?
According to studies by (Kahai, 2009)
"When initial opinions among group members differ, source anonymity leads to a lower incidence of counter-normative
arguments compared with the identified or participant-anonymity conditions."
So, in a way the environment allows for less counter-normative opinions/arguments, but the users themselves define what
they think is normative. It just so happens that their idea of normative is counter-normative when compared to the socially accepted standard.
Effects of anonymity on behavior in groups
In a paper by (Postmes et al., 2001), a study on anonymity behavior in groups revealed that anonymous
group members conform tot he standards set by a prime, whereas identifiable group members do not.
Primed norm socially transmitted
This suggests that the primed norm was socially transmitted within the group. This helps to reveal and give reason behind the behavior of 4chan, where members of
a group tend to become followers (sheep, riot crowd) when non-normative, or controversial arguments/ideas are put forward. It is because of the users' anonymity that they
support or encourage behavior that would not be socially acceptable in normal society.
Examples of socially unacceptable behavior:
A user posts live updates to murders while other users cheer him on
The hacking group Anonymous
Nude Celebrity photo hack
Not only is the site the place where hacked nude celebrity photos recently turned up, but it's also largely responsible for the GamerGate controversy, which has resulted
in the online harassment and threatening of women in the video gaming industry.
Is the anonymous platform ethically ‘good’?
We can see from the studies and examples of anonymous
groups and sites like 4chan that significant problems arise from an
anonymous community online, however, are these issues a significant
enough of a problem to break up and prevent anonymous groups from forming,
effectively waging war on privacy and the right to be anonymous in a public
space?
Marc Andreesen, a major investor in tech startups had this to say about other, recently popular anonymous apps.
In my opinion
In my opinion, while I am a strong believer that everyone should have the access to privacy and anonymity if
they want it, I do see how platforms such as 4chan can enable nasty, and socially unacceptable behavior. It
seems to me that the negatives outweigh the good with sites such as these, and perhaps some monitoring should
be done to prevent major issues.
References
Postmes, T., Spears, R., Sakhel, K., & De Groot, D. (2001). Social influence in computer-mediated communication: The effects of anonymity on group behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(10), 1243-1254.
Kahai, S. S. (2009). Anonymity and counter-normative arguments in computer-mediated discussions. Group & Organization Management.
Postmes, T., Spears, R., Sakhel, K., & De Groot, D. (2001). Social influence in computer-mediated communication: The effects of anonymity on group behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(10), 1243-1254.
Kahai, S. S. (2009). Anonymity and counter-normative arguments in computer-mediated discussions. Group & Organization Management.
