4chan and /b/: An Analysis of Anonymity and Ephemerality in a Large Online Community
September 18, 2023
We present two studies of online ephemerality and anonymity based on the popular discussion board /b/ at 4chan.org: a website with over 7 million users that plays an influential role in Internet culture. Although researchers and practitioners often assume that user identity and data permanence are central tools in the design of online communities, we ...