There's a Catch 22 at play. I've argued for years that 4chan lost its luster since the archives came into play. It jumped the shark long ago but this is the point where it lost credibility as a force. Its draw is no longer absolute chaos, it's semi-controlled chaos that plays out quite formulaic, you already know everything that's going to be posted before you even look at the thread 99% of the time. You would think that would cause knowledge to be codified, progress would build upon this lasting source, but no, the turnover rate is so maddening that you have to repeat the same things over and over and nobody ever learns anything.

The meme of n00bs spouting the same catchphrases over and over was true then, but has morphed into a nightmare. There's simply no excuse, it's so disheartening most actual old users (pre-2008) long ago gave up, or trudge along so disheartened that every single time they post they're wondering why.

4-ch suffers from stagnation and ease of flooding, but it doesn't suffer from this grinding fatigue. It is still a nice vacation spot to get away from it all, and that's what it should be.