Lamenting the fragmentation in our community (25)

18 Name: Anonymous Addict : 2016-09-04 12:33 ID:mE8ZIWWX

>the problem cannot be fixed by only overlays, but with added cultural obscurity as well.

Added layers of obstruction create obscurity because the average internet user has no idea how to set up the things necessary to visit a site hidden from Google's indexes, much less from ICANN's IP address space. Hell, anything more complicated than typing a URL into an address bar or installing an app is increasingly becoming too difficult for the average internet user. This is partly because the internet userbase is ever expanding to include more of the lowest common denominator, partly because uncustomizable mobile phones and tablets have become the majority of internet-connected devices (on the user side anyway).

>4chan was only a obscure site for nerds until it wasnt, just like youtube was just a place to upload and watch average user's videos until it wasn't.

That didn't happen by chance. The sites' respective administrations never put a brake on things, but in fact encouraged further growth and change. Because both were motivated by money to do so. Moot could have easily cracked down on the unwanted behaviors that exposed 4chan to the vast multitudes of people who should not be there, but he didn't because he saw opportunity in growth no matter how much he denies 4chan ever being profitable. YouTube/Google could have easily not created the partnership program and kept more sincere and original content made by the average person alive, but they saw opportunity and went for it.

Why hasn't the same thing happened to 4-ch? Because, quite frankly, the site's administration doesn't go out of its way to pander to new users, nor to give them what they want. 4-ch and its culture are presented as is, for new people who discover it to either take it or leave it. Moot on the other hand allowed the hordes of newcomers to decide what direction 4chan takes.

>The new cultural and economic emphasis on qualities of uniqueness, virility, easier living through computing, and novelty, create a machine of events that can bring any subculture to its knees before the mainstream in a month or less.

I don't think there's a cultural or economic emphasis on uniqueness anymore. On instant gratification and hype sure, but not uniqueness. Most things that go viral are incredibly low-brow, run of the mill and low effort. The problem is the prominence of social media websites which permit this viral sharing of content. It is thanks to them that nothing on the internet makes sense anymore, that everything goes by so fast and that the average internet user has such a short attention span. Because popularity is given not on the objective merit of a thing, but based merely on the number of people who shared it, with no regards for the quality of each individual sharing it. This, in turn, creates an environment in which the lowest common denominator or "the masses" decide what's good and what isn't.

What we as a community have to do is remain under the radar of that. What we must do is learn from 4chan's example of what not to do. Namely refuse to accept behaviors that lead to global exposure, such as e-activism. We must also refuse to accept people in our midst who use these viral sharing platforms even if they don't necessarily exhibit the associated behaviors, so they don't make us viral by exposing us to the wider internet. Remember how 4chan users used to shun people who use Facebook? That was a good thing. Well... before Facebook users eventually outnumbered them on 4chan, but that's beside the point.

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