It stopped being relevant because its content became acceptable on major social networks, beginning in late 2022.

Major social networks aren't even remotely close to being in the same niche. There are no algorithms, no friction with accounts, no obtrusive interfaces or feature bloat, no likes, no post ratings, content is completely ephemeral. This is a common and fundamental misunderstanding I see people make when trying to understand why 4chan exists. The people who post on 4chan aren't doing it because they can't help but post edgy content, they're doing it because its web 1.0 approach to social media completely erases a whole load of annoyances and anti-patterns that are endemic in the modern web.

Just like Usenet, it will probably never die despite the antisocial controversies. Or at least in the case of 4chan, it will be replaced with another board-type system. As Twitch streamers are the contemporary version of AM radio, 4chan is the contemporary version of BBSes. You should be extremely skeptical of the idea that you could ever compete in the same space with a heavily commercialized product like a modern social network. Twitter is not a replacement, it never will be.

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dkiebd 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Most people in websites like HN have absolutely no idea what 4chan is, how it works, and what kind of things people post in there. It shows because every time you read a comment here about 4chan you are confused as to what website they may be talking about.

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OldfieldFund 3 days ago | parent [-]

Twitter is really not far from 4chan in 2025.

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numpad0 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Always has been. A lot of prominent Twitter accounts in my primary language, especially the old ones, has telltales of having been on 2chan. net. There must be something to that format that installs a basic social media amplification skill in your brain that do not develop otherwise.

There are places more toxic than 4chan but skill levels don't compare, and 4chan and 2chan also share nothing culture wise, so it must be in the architecture.

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ACCount37 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

My guess would be that to be on 2chan/4chan "back in the day", you need to be terminally online. And being terminally online is a soft prerequisite to being really good at posting interesting things online. Excellence isn't an act - it's a habit.

	▲	numpad0 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		There was also 2ch. net that was a lot bigger, but 2ch "alumni" aren't as good. It's not just cohort, it has/had better action-reward loop than other systems.

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PicassoCTs 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Its the fleetingness as a filter. If you are not catchy and repeated by others- its gone. instantly. No coming back.

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dmonitor 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That's understating it. They're practically the same at this point, 4chan just has fewer bots.

	▲	hellojesus 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		4chan doesn't manipulate the feed, so far as I know. Nor does it require a phone number to use. It blocks mainstream vpns, but that's about it. Behind the scenes, who knows, but it's not as obviously full of low effort bait as Twitter, and no account is necessary.

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okasaki 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Actually 4chan does have accounts, otherwise you get extremely nasty captchas.

Anyways, image boards are ephemeral because the devs were incompetent and cheap, it wasn't some genius design, or design at all.

	▲	dmonitor 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		the emergent behavior from ephemeral posting has become a feature by this point. and while it does technically have accounts, they don't at all work like a normal social media account. they aren't published, and using the "this is for sure me" tripcode feature is socially frowned upon.

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catsma21 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

there's more boards than just /b/

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firesteelrain 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What content in particular?

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lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

The stuff that Free Speech Absolutists like to say on twitter, judging by the date they included.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquisition_of_Twitter_by_Elon...

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watwut 3 days ago | parent [-]

Amd by free speech absolitists we usually mean nazi supporters. Who care great deal about spreading their ideas

They just happen to care equally lot about punishing and shutting up whoever is not on their side.

	▲	PicassoCTs 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		Listen. The lies, the culture relativist lies, they are so tiresome. We now all have ghaza at home- and we see through it all now. You do not have the slightest idea of the world, you just have that approximation made out of your own feelings and you yank on all social levers to make it real. Im sorry the world made you unable to appreciate complexity and handle it especially when its hostile to western values. But the grown ups have to clean up your mess now. Why not go and play in your corner, with the other problems, you could play "nazi and revolutionary" all day long. Thank you..

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dmonitor 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

racism

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LAC-Tech 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

4chan is to Twitter what Reddit is to Hacker News.