4chan/Chronicle/qa: Difference between revisions

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* DRAFT
* DRAFT
** 2025/01/18
History of 4chan's /qa/ - Question & Answer board
History of 4chan's /qa/ - Question & Answer board


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>but why now?
>but why now?


Arguably the most revisioned board lore on the site.
Arguably the most revisioned board history on the site.




>well, then?
>well then, what is it?
 
An offtopic & meta community composed of posters from disparate origins that died prematurely due to aggression from off-site cliques then became something else entirely.


An offtopic/meta community composed of posters from disparate origins that prematurely died due to aggression by off-site cliques.


Breakdown:
Breakdown:
Line 20: Line 23:
* Leftovers of moot's big AMA stream reminisce on nostalgic memories and ponder what to do with the board. The /qa/ charter gets drafted.
* Leftovers of moot's big AMA stream reminisce on nostalgic memories and ponder what to do with the board. The /qa/ charter gets drafted.
First Meta Period (2015-2017)
First Meta Period (2015-2017)
* /qa/ coalesces into a small collection of meta aficionados, karens crying to the mods and anons looking for an off-topic board that wouldn't get swarmed with spam and porn. Most of the generals get created.
* /qa/ coalesces into a small collection of meta aficionados, karens crying to the mods and anons looking for an off-topic board that wouldn't get swarmed with weirdos and porn. Most generals get created.
Early raids & listing (2017)
Early raids & listing (2017)
* A series of high profile events cause a number of small number off-site cliques originating from disparate boards and generals, and the /jp/ Spin Off webring, to discover /qa/ and realize it's practically unmoderated. Raids and angry protests ensue.
* A series of high profile events causes /qa/ to appear on the map of a small number off-site cliques whose origins range from disparate boards, generals and the /jp/ Spin Off webring. They discover that /qa/ is practically unmoderated; Raids and angry protests ensue.
Great weeb-frog War (2018-2019)
Great weeb-frog War (2018-2019)
* No-fun-allowed rejects from the spinoffs determine to turn /qa/ into their homeboard by aggressively botting up the place, but get resisted by an equally intense group of locals with seeming ties to /jp/ who adopt smug frogs as their callsign; This years long flamewar practically depopulates the board.
* No-fun-allowed rejects from the spinoffs determine to turn /qa/ into their homeboard by aggressively botting up the place and personally gaslighing all passerbys. They get resisted by an equally intense group of locals with seeming ties to /jp/ who adopt smug frogs as their callsign; This years long flamewar practically depopulates the board.
Second Meta Period (2020)
Second Meta Period (2020)
* Mods figure out how to kill the spambots, causing the SpinOff clique to self-exile; Frogs essentially impose a short lived era of /int/-like frogposting☼
* Mods figure out how to kill the spambots, causing the SpinOff clique to self-exile; Frogs essentially impose a short lived era of /int/-like frogposting☼
Soijak Raids & freezing. (2021)
Soijak Raids & freezing. (2021)
* Through causes yet unknown, a /pol/ derived meme☼ turns /qa/ into a thousands strong community of middleschool kids that causes havok sitewide, and ultimately gets /qa/ frozen.
* Through causes yet unknown, a /pol/-derived meme☼ turns /qa/ into a thousands strong community of middleschool kids; They cause site-wide havok and ultimately gets /qa/ frozen.
Epilogue
Epilogue
* All of /qa/ is concentrated on the 4chan Happenings General, which takes refuge on /trash/ (a gross mistake they came to regret)☼; /qa/ "lore", kekistani mythos and other bits and pieces of old memes are recycled by small clique of Soijak Party posters to create /qa2/
* All of /qa/ is concentrated on the 4chan Happenings General, which takes refuge on /trash/ (a gross mistake they came to regret)☼. /qa/ "lore", kekistani mythos and other bits and pieces of old memes are recycled by small clique of Soijak Party posters to create /qa2/


☼ needs verification
☼ needs verification
Line 38: Line 41:
"old" /qa/
"old" /qa/
* metaposters
* metaposters
** 4chan trivia aficionados --> made nice map threads and dug old pieces of OC
** nostalgic oldfags (am I permitted to use this lingo?)
** nostalgic oldfags (am I permitted to use this lingo?)
** 4chan trivia aficionados --> made nice map threads
** armchair admins --> countless foolish but well-meaning "how i will fix 4chan" threads.
** internet hobbyist --> bibanon is here
** internet hobbyists --> bibanon is here! - people who wished for a board best described as "/internet/ - Internet Culture" and found /qa/ it's closest equivalent
** late /qa/ metaposters --> 2019/2020 generation, jaded as they get
* complaintposters
* complaintposters
** DELETEPOL
** The 4chan Karen --> only here to vent and call people names
** /a/fags
** Off-board Clique refugees --> when things got too heated and/or weird on other boards or sites, /qa/ would find itself hosting a thread to discuss the situation, not necessarily a problem, but they didn't find themselves obligated to respect the board ♫
** armchair admins --> countless of "how do i fix 4chan" threads.
** /DELETEPOL/ -->  primordial fire of all meta boards
** /a/fags --> technically karens, but their numbers alone were enough to develop a persistent /a/ hatefandom
* sfwofftopicposters
* sfwofftopicposters
** board-tans general
** board-tans general --> As drawthreads moved on to other fotms, teens found /qa/ as a refuge to safely ship anthropomorphic imageboards. more prolific than people imagine.
** happening general
** Happenings general --> Remained oddly consisted for the better part of 6 years.
** 4chan cup
** 4chan cup
** [s4s], /bant/ & /a/jp/
** [s4s] & /a/jp/ colonies --> other posters were ambivalent to their presence, but they were never aggressive and contributed large quantities of OC.
** /bant/ / /int/ frogposting ---> 2019/2020, nicer than they looked.
 
"late" /qa/ (2019/2020)
* late /qa/ metaposters --> jaded as they get
** (Punished) Happenings general --> A thread denied it's board.
* /bant/ / /int/ type frogposting ---> nicer than they looked.


First Gen Raiders (2016-2017)
First Gen Raiders (2016-2017)
* SpinOff cliques: ota-ch, merorin & GNFOS
* SpinOff / /ghost/ cliques --> ota-ch, merorin & GNFOS
* /jp/ dissenters / OG frogposter
* /jp/ dissenters / OG frogposter
* /mlpol/  
* /mlpol/ + /gsg/ + /intl/ + others --> not necessarily raiders, but used thie


Second Gen Raiders (2018-2019)
Second Gen Raiders (2018-2019)
* Steamchat Clique / proto-kissu
* Steamchat Clique / kissu.moe
* Frogposters ---> is a group that was 100% homegrown really a raider?
* Frogposters ---> is a group that was 100% homegrown really a raider?
* atechan
* atechan ---> Mostly hearsay. Got in a fight with kissu and supposedly, according to kissu, was a major spammer. Might be a nothingburger
* leebaiter / lee / leebot
* leebaiter / lee / leebot


Third Gen Raiders (2020-2021)
Third Gen Raiders (2020-2021)
* Bant Cabal ---> unconfirmed
* Bant Cabal
* Soyjak Party --> really, really don't wanna touch on this
* Soyjak Party --> really, really don't wanna touch on this
☼ --> unconfirmed
♫ --> intl, gsg, infinity, and way, way more.


fat sack of loot:
fat sack of loot:


classic that started it all: https://desuarchive.org/qa/search/image/5XOGOo6Y78jgow5f5t%2FYhw%3D%3D/page/82/
classic that started it all: https://desuarchive.org/qa/search/image/5XOGOo6Y78jgow5f5t%2FYhw%3D%3D/page/82/
early threadbombing:  
 
 
/gsg/ raids:
 
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1220369/#1220369
 
https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/18852770/#18852809
 
 
early threadbombing:
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1134747/#1135235
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1134747/#1135235
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1673519/#q1673716
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1673519/#q1673716
kissu astroturfing:
https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/2007664/#2007735
listing sticky: https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1654916/#1690512
listing sticky: https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1654916/#1690512
extremely important evidence: https://desu-usergeneratedcontent.xyz/qa/image/1496/55/1496556790721.png
extremely important evidence: https://desu-usergeneratedcontent.xyz/qa/image/1496/55/1496556790721.png
curia:
>Mass download every image hash uploaded to 4chan in the first two months of this year.
>Calculate the similarity of boards based on how their share image hashes
>Build a chart that shows overlapping userbases

Revision as of 19:43, 18 January 2025

  • DRAFT
    • 2025/01/18

History of 4chan's /qa/ - Question & Answer board

>why am I writing this

Personal endearment.


>but why now?

Arguably the most revisioned board history on the site.


>well then, what is it?

An offtopic & meta community composed of posters from disparate origins that died prematurely due to aggression from off-site cliques then became something else entirely.


Breakdown: Formative month (2015)

  • Leftovers of moot's big AMA stream reminisce on nostalgic memories and ponder what to do with the board. The /qa/ charter gets drafted.

First Meta Period (2015-2017)

  • /qa/ coalesces into a small collection of meta aficionados, karens crying to the mods and anons looking for an off-topic board that wouldn't get swarmed with weirdos and porn. Most generals get created.

Early raids & listing (2017)

  • A series of high profile events causes /qa/ to appear on the map of a small number off-site cliques whose origins range from disparate boards, generals and the /jp/ Spin Off webring. They discover that /qa/ is practically unmoderated; Raids and angry protests ensue.

Great weeb-frog War (2018-2019)

  • No-fun-allowed rejects from the spinoffs determine to turn /qa/ into their homeboard by aggressively botting up the place and personally gaslighing all passerbys. They get resisted by an equally intense group of locals with seeming ties to /jp/ who adopt smug frogs as their callsign; This years long flamewar practically depopulates the board.

Second Meta Period (2020)

  • Mods figure out how to kill the spambots, causing the SpinOff clique to self-exile; Frogs essentially impose a short lived era of /int/-like frogposting☼

Soijak Raids & freezing. (2021)

  • Through causes yet unknown, a /pol/-derived meme☼ turns /qa/ into a thousands strong community of middleschool kids; They cause site-wide havok and ultimately gets /qa/ frozen.

Epilogue

  • All of /qa/ is concentrated on the 4chan Happenings General, which takes refuge on /trash/ (a gross mistake they came to regret)☼. /qa/ "lore", kekistani mythos and other bits and pieces of old memes are recycled by small clique of Soijak Party posters to create /qa2/

☼ needs verification

Basic demographics:

"old" /qa/

  • metaposters
    • 4chan trivia aficionados --> made nice map threads and dug old pieces of OC
    • nostalgic oldfags (am I permitted to use this lingo?)
    • armchair admins --> countless foolish but well-meaning "how i will fix 4chan" threads.
    • internet hobbyists --> bibanon is here! - people who wished for a board best described as "/internet/ - Internet Culture" and found /qa/ it's closest equivalent
  • complaintposters
    • The 4chan Karen --> only here to vent and call people names
    • Off-board Clique refugees --> when things got too heated and/or weird on other boards or sites, /qa/ would find itself hosting a thread to discuss the situation, not necessarily a problem, but they didn't find themselves obligated to respect the board ♫
    • /DELETEPOL/ --> primordial fire of all meta boards
    • /a/fags --> technically karens, but their numbers alone were enough to develop a persistent /a/ hatefandom
  • sfwofftopicposters
    • board-tans general --> As drawthreads moved on to other fotms, teens found /qa/ as a refuge to safely ship anthropomorphic imageboards. more prolific than people imagine.
    • Happenings general --> Remained oddly consisted for the better part of 6 years.
    • 4chan cup ☼
    • [s4s] & /a/jp/ colonies --> other posters were ambivalent to their presence, but they were never aggressive and contributed large quantities of OC.

"late" /qa/ (2019/2020)

  • late /qa/ metaposters --> jaded as they get
    • (Punished) Happenings general --> A thread denied it's board.
  • /bant/ / /int/ type frogposting ---> nicer than they looked.

First Gen Raiders (2016-2017)

  • SpinOff / /ghost/ cliques --> ota-ch, merorin & GNFOS
  • /jp/ dissenters / OG frogposter
  • /mlpol/ + /gsg/ + /intl/ + others --> not necessarily raiders, but used thie

Second Gen Raiders (2018-2019)

  • Steamchat Clique / kissu.moe
  • Frogposters ---> is a group that was 100% homegrown really a raider?
  • atechan ---> Mostly hearsay. Got in a fight with kissu and supposedly, according to kissu, was a major spammer. Might be a nothingburger
  • leebaiter / lee / leebot

Third Gen Raiders (2020-2021)

  • Bant Cabal ☼
  • Soyjak Party --> really, really don't wanna touch on this

☼ --> unconfirmed ♫ --> intl, gsg, infinity, and way, way more.

fat sack of loot:


classic that started it all: https://desuarchive.org/qa/search/image/5XOGOo6Y78jgow5f5t%2FYhw%3D%3D/page/82/


/gsg/ raids:

https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1220369/#1220369

https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/18852770/#18852809


early threadbombing:

https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1134747/#1135235

https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1673519/#q1673716


kissu astroturfing:

https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/2007664/#2007735


listing sticky: https://desuarchive.org/qa/thread/1654916/#1690512


extremely important evidence: https://desu-usergeneratedcontent.xyz/qa/image/1496/55/1496556790721.png


curia: >Mass download every image hash uploaded to 4chan in the first two months of this year.

>Calculate the similarity of boards based on how their share image hashes

>Build a chart that shows overlapping userbases