

Ask HN: What is 4Chan? - CalvinHobbes

I looked at 4Chan.org and it seems to be an old-school style message board.<p>But I read that 4Chan hackers launched the DDoS against MasterCard.<p>So I am confused. Can anyone explain what 4Chan really is, comprised of, etc?
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prestia
I'm hesitant to open this can of worms, but you are correct in thinking that
4chan is simply and imageboard. The DDoS attacks on MasterCard were actually
launched by a group called Anonymous, which is often associated with 4chan.
However, 4chan and Anonymous are completely separate entities and their names
should not be used interchangeably.

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CalvinHobbes
so the media saying it was launched be 4Chan is actually incorrect.

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zephjc
Users on 4chan are by default anonymous when posting content or comments
(replies to content). At least when I last spent time there (in early 2007) it
was considered a faux pas to post content with a username as it is looked as
if one is trying to gain notoriety/fame for themselves, instead of giving up
their content for the great good that is Anonymous.

Anonymous (capitalized) is, generally speaking, not a coherent group in any
sense, but a meme describing the swarm of memes and the users who propagate
them (often first at 4chan) through the internet (a meta-meme?).

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zephjc
Much has been written about 4chan.

A encyclopedic explanation: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan>

A sarcastic, semi-self-mocking take on it:
<http://encyclopediadramatica.com/4chan>

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Jun8
I think 4chan can be thought of as the gathering place for people who organize
movements like Anonymous (and for other folks who want to look at porn and
weird photos). Saying "4chan hackers" launched an attack is like saying "HN
readers" drive entrepreneurship in the US, it has a bit of a truth but (1) the
readers of 4chan is a dynamic bunch, there is no clear set of "hackers"
associated with it and (2) not all hackers within Anonymous are associated
with 4chan.

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Skywing
I've only ever visited the site once or twice, but that's pretty much all it
is. I'm pretty sure it's just a message board (a really painful one to look
at). I'm guessing there are small groups of people that collaborate using it,
though. These groups of people with nothing better to do usually like finding
obscure sites or community networks to "represent".

