There’s an infamous article on Foreign Policy about how /leftypol/ managed to do that with 8chan’s infamous /pol/ board, and I recall some people saying it got them out of GamerGate (a right-wing recruitment pipeline). In fact, I remember hearing there’s some lineage of that board from 4chan’s /lit/erature board. So there’s certainly truth that users can often be directed away from incel and alt-right spheres into something more social and constructive.
At the end of the day, 4chan, if taken as a whole rather than just the political boards, is largely a popular hub for alienated nerds (even the /fit/ness board). Not sure how much that’s stayed true over the past 10 years, but screencaps like this show it’s still a complicated place despite the edgy surface.
There’s an infamous article on Foreign Policy about how /leftypol/ managed to do that with 8chan’s infamous /pol/ board, and I recall some people saying it got them out of GamerGate (a right-wing recruitment pipeline). In fact, I remember hearing there’s some lineage of that board from 4chan’s /lit/erature board. So there’s certainly truth that users can often be directed away from incel and alt-right spheres into something more social and constructive.
At the end of the day, 4chan, if taken as a whole rather than just the political boards, is largely a popular hub for alienated nerds (even the /fit/ness board). Not sure how much that’s stayed true over the past 10 years, but screencaps like this show it’s still a complicated place despite the edgy surface.
Hopefully a lesson will be drawn from this.