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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* {{official site}} | |||
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[[Category:4chan]] | [[Category:4chan]] | ||
/b/ (also calledrandom) is one of theInternet forums in4chan. /b/ was among the first boards created created at the establishment of the platform in 2004 and has remained the most popular. While /b/ permits discussion and posting of any sort of content, the community etiquette is to self-limit discussion on /b/ those topics which are specialities or the focus of other boards on 4chan.
A writer forThe Washingonton Post described /b/ as "an unfathomable grab-bag of the random, the gross and the downright bizarre".[1]
A 2011 MIT 4chan analysis examined 2 weeks of posts to /b/ in summer 2010.[2][3] During this time, users made 5.5 million posts on /b/ in 480,000 threads.[2] The median life of a discussion thread was 4 minutes; the longest in that period was 6 hours[2]
A 2013 article noted that 4chan is a top-ranking website by popularity especially in the United States but also globally.[4] Within 4chan, /b/ is by far the most popular and active board.[4]
Mainstream media has regularly reported /b/ as both requiring explanation and defying it.
The 2011 MIT 4chan analysis of /b/ found that the community mostly posts playful images and links.[2] The same analysis found that at least 90% of the posts are anonymous, even though posters adopt and discard various claims of identity at will.[2]
/b/ and/pol/ are the most notorious boards on 4chan.[5]
/b/ is the only board in 4chan where anyone can post grotesque material.[1]
/b/ is among the boards on 4chan which has aNSFW designation.[6] Consequently, users may post NSFW content on /b/ when the 4chan moderators may restrict such postings on boards without that designation.[6]
The community at /b/ sustains various customs. Users may promise to post photos of acts of self-degradation in an attempt to barter.[7] Users claim to have insider information on news events.[7] Users ask for advice, often on romance and relationships.[7] Users post various images containing puzzles.[7]
A 2013 research paper reported that misogyny sustains the culture at /b/.[8]
In January 2012 when theUnited States Department of Justice took downMegaupload,Anonymous retaliated by hacking various websites including that of the Department of Justice and theFederal Bureau of Investigation.[9] During the attacks /b/ hosted live narration of the event with early information about how to watch various websites go down.[9]
4chan hosts various live discussion events related to crimes and persuading people to mistakenly and foolishly destroy their iPhones.[10]
In response to community demand to expel "social posts" on /b/, in 2011 Moot established /soc/, the social board of 4chan.[11]
