8chan

See also: reddit.com

Infinity Chan, more popularly known as 8chan, is a Vichan Imageboard created in 2013 that allowed users to create their own boards. It was opened by Fredrick Brennan aka copypaste, later rechristened hotwheels. It became a locus of activity in the mid-2010s and the primary altchan on the English internet. A very tumultuous history accompanied this and the site was forcibly taken over by Jim Watkins, operator of 2channel, and managed by his son. It was temporarily closed in 2019 following a spate of mass shootings attributed to users of the site then resurrected under the name 8kun. Mismanagement led to an exodus, and a very large network successor sites have sprung up.

History

See also: 8chan/History

lolbutts

8chan Spinoffs

Several 8chan spinoffs exist, product of disagreements, inter-community warfare and post-hotwheels drama.

8kun Era

• 8chan Moe. Created by Acid to house his GamerGate friendly /v/.
• 8channel.us LOL DEAD
• The Webring including anon.cafe, smuglo.li and others, which really deserve their own page. spacechan.xyz was also included in this webring but is now defunct

The formatting guide is as illustrated by the below meme that circulated on 8chan:

8chan formatting guide