Chanverse

Note: Under construction. Expect suck.

Chanverse refers to the collection of websites, chiefly imageboards but also textboards and even Wikis, that claim pedigree from the posting culture of 4chan.

Etymology and Synonyms

The term is a portmanteau of "Channel" and "Universe", first used in 2006 to describe the growing communities of the western Imageboard scene, spread through Wikis (e.g. Wikichan likely being the first to use the term (ref: IOU)). When referring to non-specific IBs, it was typical to use *chan.

In the mid 2010s, being a bit hard on the tongue, the term fell out of use. Under influence of alt-right terminology the term Altchan came to supplant it. Some communities, specially the Otaku-inclined, favor the term Spinoff. Subsets of the chanverse are typically referred with the suffix -sphere (e.g. /jp/sphere) according to the culture they are aligned to.

Grouping Chanverses

While some scenes in the chanverse were large enough to create the illusion that all chanverse communities were related to each other, at no point in time there was a continuous genealogy of communities. Over time multiple networks of developers and IB enthusiasts gathered and dispersed, keeping a record of friendly relations, rivalries and website scripts in their own niches. On occasions, some of these were subsumed into another. These networks can be grouped into generations, which posses a common relation, and those that mutually acknowledge each other form smaller groups.

[NAME PENDING] Generation

Imageboards that claim pedigree from 4chan as it existed in it's first years, well before Anonymous posting became dominant and the idea of 4chan culture itself existed. Often being side projects by developers from Raspberry Heaven or influenced by them, including in one case their direct competition.

Raspberry Heaven Scene

The very first batch of imageboards came by the hand of moot's acquaintances at Raspberry Heaven. thatdog programmed Futallaby in December 2003, and months later WaHa unveiled Wakaba when Futallaby was discontinued. From these two scripts, several dozen imageboards surfaced. The very first chanverse IB was 1chan, followed by Burichan and other short-lived boards, including site that arose years later such as Gurochan. At the same time, competition by other SA readers surfaced, with BarnacleED's controversial 5chan.net sporting a custom engine.

RH was not fond of competition, with 5chan being harassed into shutting down twice, and 4-ch-net's appearance causing moot to make a diss section on non-friend IBs on his Something Awful thread. In an interesting contrast, thatdog innovated by creating the first overchan, an IB link portal that included almost all the chanverse of it's time.

Textboard Scene

The textboard scene was funded in late 2004 with the creation 4-ch.net taking the opportunity to host the first Kareha engine website. Unlike all the groups mentioned where, 4-ch actually claims pedigree from world2ch (and therefore 2channel), albeit in a tongue in cheek manner thanks to the interests of oldheads such as shii, WaHa and 0037. Thus the textboards become a mix of imageboard culture and 2ch's culture. etherchan and Secret Area of VIP Quality soon latched on to the elitist superstructure, and the scene remains active to this day.

Idlechan Federation

iichan was the first true 4chan spinoff, made in July 2004 as a bunker after Yotsuba died it's fourth and longest death. It served it's purpose and failed to make ends meet after 4chan came back. A mutual support network developed with the administrator of the recently created Wakachan. Together, they were the first to float the idea of an imageboard federation, attracted a half-dozen IBs and most of the early chanverse comes from their ranks. It was however unable to garner any sort of posterbase save from a very small number of boards and the federation slowly died off.

Camgirl Scene

4chan's advantage as a porn site was apparent to many. Some took to mixing up the phenomenon as a source of interaction with amateur camgirls, group that was definitely not small in the 00s. WTFUx was arguably the first among these, quickly followed by Kyriu's chanchan that later became the LURKMORE Group.

The scene has one major claim to fame: Being the first to boot an user-created bulletin board script, in the form of AnonIB. Originally an experiment not part of the scene, it was eventually subsumed into it by the fact most popular boards were camgirl-related.

Lulz Generation

The first group to use the term chanverse. They contrasted with the [NAME PENDING] generation by claiming pedigree not from 4chan, but from /b/ culture alone. They consider the /b/day their foundational myth, the point where /b/ became "full of suck" and an exodus was needed.

/i/nsurgency

The largest and more influential group by far, in a way, the group that informed the idea of a network of related imageboards. An active protest against 4chan imposing global rules on /b/, it quickly coalesced into a culture centered on raiding. It garnered wide support, even from established chanverse figures. However the association with hacking, unsavory content and even illegal spam saw most efforts at creating an /i/ board collapse. Eventually, the scene was reduced to a number of holdouts on IRC, Wikis and some radio sites. Among the /i/nsurgents where the cliques that were responsible for the birth of Anonymous hacktivist movement in 2008. The rest of the community, by 2010, it had completely dispersed.

/int/ernational

A decentralized group of enthusiasts who attempted to capture the magic of /b/ on an IB in their language. Many were tried, and the most successful was Krautchan. Their innovation, /int/ - International, came to inform the culture of every european IB scene west of Russia's. This became a phenomenon, with the board becoming a decentralized culture that existed independent of their hosts site, managing to developing the most widespread set of injokes after /b/. Soon, it too the form of a network of Imageboards that all sported common set of jokes and an embassy in the form of /int/, going as far as to inspiring moot to make an /int/, creating a new major board on the spot.

Spinoff Generation

The most fragmented group, not having a single origin but rather a sequence of dramas the resulting in distinct communities being exiled from 4chan in the early 10s, product of a years-long moderation crackdown on the board culture phenomenon.

Culture War Generation

Also known as the /pol/sphere. Starting with 2014, /pol/'s spectacular rise to relevancy and a continuous conspiracy that 4chan was secretly infiltrated by leftists marked a turning point in the imageboard ecosystem and a complete renovation of vocabulary and the very idea of what an imageboard is for.

Contrary to popular belief, not everything in 8chan was related to /pol/, albeit their terminology influenced every corner of it.

Soy Generation

Soyteen culture claims pedigree from 4chan via late /qa/'s board culture. But at the same time, they interpret this through the notion that they are so removed from the site's modern baggage they have returned, in their eyes, to the original purpose of 4chan. Thus, contrary to almost every group in this page, they boast they lack of pedigree as proof of their value. Their funding myth is the closure of /qa/ that exiled them to the spinoff soyjak.party.

Most Soyjak Party spinoffs can't be properly grouped in a family, as they are all culturally indistinct and their divisions are under all intents are purposes roleplay.

Soysphere

The Soysphere is a collection of sites that aren't necessarily related to the Soyjak Party (but almost all are), but are hopelessly influenced by the vernacular and way of thinking. Many don't see eye to eye with the party, and every consider themselves a direct competitor to them.

Party Purists

A short lived number of Soyjak Party spinoffs who denounced the direction the party pivoted to under the adminship of Kuz. They envisioned the Soyjak Party as, at best, a content creator group, at word, a raider group that only did thing for fun, and not for the sake of a secret club.