Overused Internet Comments

[Robert Maxwell]

Anonymous does not forgive.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You recall hearing when [insert celebrity] was hacked on [insert website]? That was 4chan.

Notable recent inserts (repectively)
Sarah Palin's account, Yahoo Email
Justin Beiber, YouTube so that all videos of him were redirected to porn
Justin Beiber, Twitter, announcing a tour of North Korea (my personal favorite)

Just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean you have seen the damage. In the last week they've launched DDoS attack on the MPAA and RIAA. The former still hasn't recovered.

If 4chan is that dangerous, why are they still around? Why haven't they been shut down?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

You recall hearing when [insert celebrity] was hacked on [insert website]? That was 4chan.

Notable recent inserts (repectively)
Sarah Palin's account, Yahoo Email
Justin Beiber, YouTube so that all videos of him were redirected to porn
Justin Beiber, Twitter, announcing a tour of North Korea (my personal favorite)

Just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean you have seen the damage. In the last week they've launched DDoS attack on the MPAA and RIAA. The former still hasn't recovered.

If 4chan is that dangerous, why are they still around? Why haven't they been shut down?

Uh, because the people who run 4chan aren't the ones going around doing this stuff?

 

[Australis]

And, I suppose if it was shut down, they'd pop up somewhere else, probably less visible, and harder for the Turing Police to track.

 

[AstroSmurf]

If they are as devious as you folks say they are maybe I could get them to hack the Pentagon. I am really mad at them today.

 

[Lor'Vela]

Anything to do with the word "Epic (something)". I don't think any other overused word on the Internet as annoyed me more.

Runner up for me is "In b4 lock". I can't help but notice that used fairly often in this forum as well. I do my best to ignore it.

Oh yeah, and another one... Where any photo is deemed "fake".

 

[Hunter X]

SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!

Even typing it makes an obnoxious sound in my head. 'Course, that could also just be the voices.

 

[SeerSGB]

You recall hearing when [insert celebrity] was hacked on [insert website]? That was 4chan.

Notable recent inserts (repectively)
Sarah Palin's account, Yahoo Email
Justin Beiber, YouTube so that all videos of him were redirected to porn
Justin Beiber, Twitter, announcing a tour of North Korea (my personal favorite)

Just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean you have seen the damage. In the last week they've launched DDoS attack on the MPAA and RIAA. The former still hasn't recovered.

If 4chan is that dangerous, why are they still around? Why haven't they been shut down?

Personal opinion: I think a lot of Anonymous and 4chan's "rep" is simply them taking credit for other peoples work. Someone does something that gets a lot of press, they rush to claim the "kill" or claim the person as "Anonymous". And since there's no way or proving or disproving the claim it sticks.

Oh I'm sure they've got a lot of notches on their belts, but I think the bulk of it's simply PR.

 

[STR]

You recall hearing when [insert celebrity] was hacked on [insert website]? That was 4chan.

Notable recent inserts (repectively)
Sarah Palin's account, Yahoo Email
Justin Beiber, YouTube so that all videos of him were redirected to porn
Justin Beiber, Twitter, announcing a tour of North Korea (my personal favorite)

Just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean you have seen the damage. In the last week they've launched DDoS attack on the MPAA and RIAA. The former still hasn't recovered.

If 4chan is that dangerous, why are they still around? Why haven't they been shut down?

Personal opinion: I think a lot of Anonymous and 4chan's "rep" is simply them taking credit for other peoples work. Someone does something that gets a lot of press, they rush to claim the "kill" or claim the person as "Anonymous". And since there's no way or proving or disproving the claim it sticks.

Oh I'm sure they've got a lot of notches on their belts, but I think the bulk of it's simply PR.

Well, the three I cited are definitely products of 4chan. The guy who hacked Palin's account (by hack, I mean he guessed her really, really weak password) didn't cover his tracks well enough when he posted screenshots. The other two were organized on 4chan.

If 4chan is that dangerous, why are they still around? Why haven't they been shut down?

Google "Anonymous"

A shorter explanation is that 4chan doesn't keep thread records, or require logins to post there. Your post, made anonymously, or even deliberately faking another's ID, can disappear within minutes of posting if it gets lost under a deluge of other posts. Conversely, if your evil suggestion catches on, it's still completely anonymous (or faked), with no single individual able to be singled out for prosecution.

The whole site (well, the /b/ board which we're talking about) is completely unmanaged, which (legally) probably protects it via the Safe Harbor doctrine.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It's unmanaged unless and until someone posts CP, that is. Then the mods come out and drop the banhammer.

 

[STR]

I think CP laws trump SH, so...that makes sense.

 

[Aragorn]

Here's one that users of this board are familiar with -- (incorrectly) calling a TV show or movie "90210" as a feeble attempt to insult it because of a perceived youth movement. I'm pretty sure no one in the last Star Trek movie was pretending to be of high school age.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

It's unmanaged unless and until someone posts CP, that is. Then the mods come out and drop the banhammer.

Or kitten and puppy abuse. You don't want to mess with kittens and puppies anywhere within the vast and unforgiving gaze of 4chan.

 

[trekkiedane]

It's unmanaged unless and until someone posts CP, that is. Then the mods come out and drop the banhammer.

CP???

 

[F. King Daniel]

Here's one that users of this board are familiar with -- (incorrectly) calling a TV show or movie "90210" as a feeble attempt to insult it because of a perceived youth movement. I'm pretty sure no one in the last Star Trek movie was pretending to be of high school age.

(*cough*) Chekov (*cough*)

 

[cultcross]

Personal opinion: I think a lot of Anonymous and 4chan's "rep" is simply them taking credit for other peoples work. Someone does something that gets a lot of press, they rush to claim the "kill" or claim the person as "Anonymous". And since there's no way or proving or disproving the claim it sticks.

Oh I'm sure they've got a lot of notches on their belts, but I think the bulk of it's simply PR.

To a certain extent, 'Anonymous' now refers not just to the posters on /b/ but to the general persona of the anonymous internet anarchist. As with any unregulated power they have the potential to do good things, but there is also the potential there to seriously fuck with people's lives if they take a dislike to you.

 

[SeerSGB]

Personal opinion: I think a lot of Anonymous and 4chan's "rep" is simply them taking credit for other peoples work. Someone does something that gets a lot of press, they rush to claim the "kill" or claim the person as "Anonymous". And since there's no way or proving or disproving the claim it sticks.

Oh I'm sure they've got a lot of notches on their belts, but I think the bulk of it's simply PR.

To a certain extent, 'Anonymous' now refers not just to the posters on /b/ but to the general persona of the anonymous internet anarchist. As with any unregulated power they have the potential to do good things, but there is also the potential there to seriously fuck with people's lives if they take a dislike to you.

Only if people let them. If nothing else, people just need to tell 'em to fuck off and go on with life when they start their shit; if need be contact state and federal agencies related to online threats, cyberstalking...

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Personal opinion: I think a lot of Anonymous and 4chan's "rep" is simply them taking credit for other peoples work. Someone does something that gets a lot of press, they rush to claim the "kill" or claim the person as "Anonymous". And since there's no way or proving or disproving the claim it sticks.

Oh I'm sure they've got a lot of notches on their belts, but I think the bulk of it's simply PR.

To a certain extent, 'Anonymous' now refers not just to the posters on /b/ but to the general persona of the anonymous internet anarchist. As with any unregulated power they have the potential to do good things, but there is also the potential there to seriously fuck with people's lives if they take a dislike to you.

This is a good point. Anonymous is more than just 4channers. It also encompasses the SomethingAwful Goons and used to also include the "dot army" from FuckedCompany.com, among others. Word gets around between multiple sites though 4chan tends to be the epicenter for "anonymous Internet anarchists," as you put it.