# Does 4chan "produce" more sound people than tumblr?



## Putato (Feb 11, 2016)

I've wondered, for as rude and horrible as it can be, people who seem to have spent their teen years (14-17) on 4chan, tend to be more mentally sound and self assured than people who spent their time on tumblr as the same ages.

This is something that I've noticed in my own personal experience.
At 15 and 16, I was something of an emotional wreck, or emo for lack of the better term. (It was 2006, emo was in, at least) I also discovered the horror of /b/ at the time.

While this would seem like a recipe for disaster (suicidal kid on /b/) it actually did more to help me than you would think. I was taught to not take myself so seriously. To not take anyone else seriously at all. Especially on the internet, where _everyone_ is a loser and _no one_ is that important.

Then I look at people who are using tumblr now and how emotionally fragile they are. Even though tumblr seems to have the mentality of "no one is more important than you and your feelings. uw u"

Is it because of tumblr people's USI  that makes them so fragile? That any mean anon that comes around, is enough to shatter their illusion of self esteem? Is it the insistence and rewarding of victim complexes, which itself stifles self actualization?

You'd think that the website that is so ego stoking would produce the people with thicker skin, not the one that tells you that "no one cares" when you pour your heart out.


tl;dr- Why is it that people who grew up in chan culture have thicker skin than the same age groups who grew up in tumblr culture?


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## GS 281 (Feb 11, 2016)

Putato said:


> tl;dr- Why is it that people who grew up in chan culture have thicker skin than the same age groups who grew up in tumblr culture?


I wouldn't say that people in chan culture have thicker skin at all. I think that the qualities of how people in chan culture and people in tumblr culture approach the internet are relatively different, however the elements which constitute "thicker skin" are widely distributed between the two with meager instances of overlap.

In "chan culture", sharing personal details of one's life is looked at as being a bad idea. Letting people know embarrassing details of your life is thought of as exposing your vulnerabilities, hence people have become conditioned to not share personal details, lest they will be ball busted or trolled upon for doing so and the overall purpose of their message would be lost. I would not classify this as being evidence of thick skin at all. Being hesitant about sharing personal details at all seems to be the antithesis of thick skin. Being open and confident about life experience and knowing you will be called a faggot and not caring would be thick skin.

In "tumblr culture" the approach is completely different. People are encouraged to share private thoughts and feelings. Expressing your sexuality, orientation unique perceptions of self are encouraged. The problem with this is that no one is there to challenge them. There is no debate about outlying ideas, generally it is all accepted. This here would be evidence of a lack of "thick skin" in the tumblr community.

Both the "chan community" and the "tumblr community" lack thick skin, but have the energy to express disdain or private feelings and it manifests in things such as "SJW v. MRA" and the whole gamergate saga as these become proxy battles where they get it out of their system. I will say though that this is mainly for the one third on each sidewhere there is no overlap. I would estimate that there is substantial overlap. 

To the initial question on soundness, not necessarily. On one side, you have people who design boundaries for their discussion that are too tight for there to be an exploration of new ideas because the purpose of exploration and critique is generally to troll someone and not entertain new ideas and on the other so many new ideas are described but none of them explored and critiqued. On one side people will tell you your idea is horrible because you didn't dot one i or cross one t according to how their world view ascribes. The other will accept anything.


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## ULTIMATEPRIMETIME (Feb 11, 2016)

in all honesty i think if a website raises you, then you're going to turn into a nerd regardless of the site. however, certain sites do attract certain people. tumblr is specifically designed so that you only see the blogs and opinions you want, which attracts those more prone to hugboxing, but that is not how the world works. the 'chans force you to contribute to all types of discussion with people who have differing opinions, and no one is afraid about offending each other because no one knows anybody. in image board culture, absolutely no one cares about who you are. this helps with discussion because it forcibly takes the spotlight off of you. attention whores hate this, but more humble people will gravitate to such a site.

tl;dr: people get along better when everyone is equally a nigger.


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## Putato (Feb 11, 2016)

ULTIMATEPRIMETIME said:


> in all honesty i think if a website raises you, then you're going to turn into a nerd regardless of the site


I will never deny that I am a pasty, white, nerd who spends too much time playing video games. I work in IT for Christ's sake!
Edit: I also had 0  irl friends at the time.



ULTIMATEPRIMETIME said:


> however, certain sites do attract certain people. tumblr is specifically designed so that you only see the blogs and opinions you want, which attracts those more prone to hugboxing, but that is not how the world works. the 'chans force you to contribute to all types of discussion with people who have differing opinions, and no one is afraid about offending each other because no one knows anybody. in image board culture, absolutely no one cares about who you are. this helps with discussion because it forcibly takes the spotlight off of you. attention whores hate this, but more humble people will gravitate to such a site.


I can see this being part of the reason.  Then again, I never had a "serious discussion" while on 4chan. Mostly just laughing at stupid people being stupid, and downloading porn. Closest I got to a "debate" when an argument on /y/ about the presence of shotacon.


@yawning sneasel So it's two sides of the same coin in your opinion? One shares too little and questions everything while the other shares too much and questions nothing?
Personally I don't share my life story to strangers. I think that's a bad idea. Especially if it's somewhere where ANYONE can see it. Posting on a mental health board with other people who know what it is and isn't is one thing. Posting it where anyone, educated and experienced or not, can chirp in is a bad idea in my opinion.


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## GS 281 (Feb 11, 2016)

Putato said:


> @yawning sneasel So it's two sides of the same coin in your opinion? One shares too little and questions everything while the other shares too much and questions nothing?
> Personally I don't share my life story to strangers. I think that's a bad idea. Especially if it's somewhere where ANYONE can see it. Posting on a mental health board with other people who know what it is and isn't is one thing. Posting it where anyone, educated and experienced or not, can chirp in is a bad idea in my opinion.



I don't think this is accurate and I believe if this is entirely true that no one would be of any value to the community.


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## Putato (Feb 11, 2016)

yawning sneasel said:


> I don't think this is accurate and I believe if this is entirely true that no one would be of any value to the community.


Fair point. I'm just trying to clarify. But I feel like when you get people who have 0 factual knowledge on the subject matter informing others about it, it just leads to a breeding of misinformation, which can also lead to confusion of trying to sift through to find actual facts.


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## nad7155 (Feb 11, 2016)

No.


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## AnOminous (Feb 11, 2016)

4chan produces people who are staggering autists in a million different ways.  I still vastly prefer them to the scum from tumblr.


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## Putato (Feb 11, 2016)

AnOminous said:


> 4chan produces people who are staggering autists in a million different ways.  I still vastly prefer them to the scum from tumblr.


EG: Anyone and everyone on the farms.


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## XYZpdq (Feb 11, 2016)

I don't bother with Tumblr, but I definitely notice that the forums I go by that enforce niceness end up dragged down with a lot of passive-aggressive bullshit toeing the line of what the mods consider an infraction instead of just saying "ur a fag" like any self-respecting chan would.


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## KingGeedorah (Feb 12, 2016)

Both need to get off the internet and go outside.

We got a generation of shitty, nerdy STEM worshiping, anti-social loveshys getting ready to breed and have families. Not a bright future.


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## AnOminous (Feb 12, 2016)

KingGeedorah said:


> Both need to get off the internet and go outside.
> 
> We got a generation of shitty, nerdy STEM worshiping, anti-social loveshys getting ready to breed and have families. Not a bright future.



STEM is the shit, though.  

STEM actually does shit that needs to be done.

Dangerhair doesn't.


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## KingGeedorah (Feb 12, 2016)

AnOminous said:


> STEM is the shit, though.
> 
> STEM actually does shit that needs to be done.
> 
> Dangerhair doesn't.


Yeah dude of course STEM is the shit. It covers areas that are needed to function at a decent level in society.

That being said, fields of study such as history, education, lawyering and law, auto repair (kinda a STEM-lite career), and culinary arts have a place in college to be studied. As well they should!

It's just the weird elite culture that STEM ( and obviously Liberal Arts) students seem to breed.


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## Pikimon (Feb 13, 2016)

KingGeedorah said:


> Yeah dude of course STEM is the shit. It covers areas that are needed to function at a decent level in society.
> 
> That being said, fields of study such as history, education, lawyering and law, auto repair (kinda a STEM-lite career), and culinary arts have a place in collage to be studied. As well they should!
> 
> It's just the weird elite culture that STEM ( and obviously Liberal Arts) students seem to breed.



Except us Psych students. We're outcasts because neither the Liberal Arts nor STEM like us.


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## AnOminous (Feb 13, 2016)

Pikimon said:


> Except us Psych students. We're outcasts because neither the Liberal Arts nor STEM like us.



That's because you're a bunch of faggots!


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## Clown Doll (Feb 13, 2016)

Putato said:


> At 15 and 16, I was something of an emotional wreck, or emo for lack of the better term. (It was 2006, emo was in, at least) I also discovered the horror of /b/ at the time.
> While this would seem like a recipe for disaster (suicidal kid on /b/) it actually did more to help me than you would think. I will never deny that I am a pasty, white, nerd who spends too much time playing video games. I work in IT for Christ's sake! Edit: I also had 0  irl friends at the time. Closest I got to a "debate" when an argument on /y/ about the presence of shotacon.





Putato said:


> Personally I don't share my life story to strangers. I think that's a bad idea.



.

You're on a trolling website that documents dysfunctional people whose problem is that they overshare intimate details to complete strangers when they aren't requested and you're telling us about being suicidal, having no friends and debating the ethics of using drawings of underage boys as wank fodder on a board dedicated to jerking off to gay(well, gayer than usual ) animeys.


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## Pikimon (Feb 14, 2016)

AnOminous said:


> That's because you're a bunch of faggots!



You laugh now, but when we lock you in our dungeon/research facility and make you stare at endless slideshows and then filling out questionnaires later you won't be laughing as much.


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## Organic Fapcup (Feb 14, 2016)

Depends on the board. /v/ is full of autists, /vg/ is full of autists but a little more chill, /pol/ is full of autists who are pretty much SJW, except they jerk off over Trump and Hitler. Given that nobody takes /pol/ seriously, Tumblr produces worse people since there's a few people who actually take their shit seriously. Oh and you won't find anyone on an imageboard crying over getting called a faggot, which is a nice bonus.


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## Clown Doll (Feb 14, 2016)

Organic Fapcup said:


> Oh and you won't find anyone on an imageboard crying over getting called a faggot


Optimistic.
I don't believe that imageboard users are any more "thicker-skinned" than most people in non-dangerhair internet, it's just simply that there are less enforced rules that would make people to filter their output. People get mad about word choices on imageboards like they would everywhere else, but most realize that it's futile.



Organic Fapcup said:


> The big difference is that an anon doesn't take getting shittalked personally, whereas the Tumblrina does.


I guess I've imagined all of those people who've gotten absolutely hulking mad when people make fun of their nationalities, hobbies or videogame systems. I guess we have had different personal experiences with posters then.


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## Organic Fapcup (Feb 14, 2016)

Clown Doll said:


> Optimistic.
> I don't believe that imageboard users are any more "thicker-skinned" than most people in non-dangerhair internet, it's just simply that there are less enforced rules that would make people to filter their output. People get mad about word choices on imageboards like they would everywhere else, but most realize that it's futile.



The amount of shitflinging that goes on on an imageboard means that your average anon is plenty used to it. A guy calls anon a faggot, anon calls him a faggot back and goes on with his day. In comparison, if you called your stereotypical Tumblrina a faggot, she'd go on a tirade about how much of a homophobe you are, or reply with a passive-aggressive post about how much of a homophobe you are.

The big difference is that an anon doesn't take getting shittalked personally, whereas the Tumblrina does. When the anon does take it personally, it usually means reddit gold for someone on r/4chan.


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## Tragi-Chan (Feb 14, 2016)

I think the different cultures are an effect rather than a cause. If you're the sort of person who gets upset because of "misgendering," you're not going to spend a whole lot of time among people who will lay into you for that. You'll go to Tumblr, where they give a shit.


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## Marvin (Feb 14, 2016)

There isn't really much of a way to gauge the soundness of imageboard users. Tumblr people are tied to names, so you can see them freaking out about things. When imageboard people freak out, it's hard to tell if it's one person, 10 people or 500 people.


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## Handsome Pete (Feb 14, 2016)

If the internet is a culture, imageboard users are the proud-but-backward natives, and Tumblr users are the naive colonists hoping to "civilize" them by suppressing their weird traditions.


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## Jewelsmakerguy (Feb 14, 2016)

In comparison, yes. In real life... not so much. It's like choosing between who's the lesser of two evils when they're both pretty terrible. In fact, it feels like several Tumblrites are basically Channers, but with more extreme views and less guro and dick pics.


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## Innocuous (Feb 19, 2016)

They are both annoying as hell and deserve each other. That's why the 2014 "raids" make so much sense.


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## AnOminous (Feb 19, 2016)

Innocuous Banter said:


> They are both annoying as hell and deserve each other. That's why the 2014 "raids" make so much sense.



4chan was usually doing it for the sake of being annoying and had no pretensions otherwise, while tumblr thinks they're saving the world or some shit.

Although if you look at /pol/ any time recently they're just as bad now with the zomg SJWs are destroying the entire universe shit, and they're just as easily triggered.


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## Strelok (Feb 20, 2016)

The difference is unless you're a complete idiot people in the chans aren't going to piece all your various posts into one horrifying picture.

On tumblr, it's all under one URL easy to pick apart.


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## MarvinTheParanoidAndroid (Feb 21, 2016)

I don't agree in the slightest. Leon Thomas, the guy who created Heart of Gaming, was a 4channer in the beginning; before he started doing Renegade Cut. Shortly after he began Renegade Cut, he became a Tumblrite & tore down all of his old Heart of Gaming episodes in the attempt to cover up his previous channery. After he was done doing that, he could never shut the fuck up about SJW shit in his videos & actually started censoring comments.

Given what I've seen, 4chan doesn't produce better anybody, it's a user-generated image board that is designed to be used without having an account or identity of any kind. That description _screams_ casual use. I don't see people sticking around for much longer than a handful of posts.

Not only that but even if you were right, 4chan is four years older than Tumblr, it should come as no surprise that the place with a longer lasting establishment would produce better people _statistically_.

As a person who was "raised by the internet", I have to say I agree with @Tragi-Chan that the websites you go to are determined by your preferences & not the other way around. I hung out on Flash portals, back when there was still more than one, because I was already interested in animation. The question isn't as to what kind of people it molds but who it appeals to. Maybe we'll see that change with the upbringing of Generation Z but as of right now, I don't view this as being the case.


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## Jaimas (Feb 21, 2016)

I don't think 4chan necessarily produces "better" people than Tumblr, but I do know it creates less otherkin sociopaths who claim to be multiple systems and refer to themselves by neopronouns and tell me to check my privilege if I misgender them.

Then again, I'm of the oldschool that believes 4chan was at its best when it actually delivered its lumps to the people that deserved it (Hal Turner coming readily to mind), so I'm not the best source of this shit.


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## exball (Feb 22, 2016)

I've seen just as many retards on imageboards as I have on Tumblr. It's just less noticeable due to the anonymity, unless they're tripfags.


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## beechiness (Feb 22, 2016)

exball said:


> I've seen just as many retards on imageboards as I have on Tumblr. It's just less noticeable due to the anonymity, unless they're tripfags.



Some imageboards are small enough that it's easy to pick out individual users, even if no one uses tripcodes.

Those people are generally spergs with an agenda or axe to grind. So, basically, they're just tumblrites.


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## AnOminous (Feb 22, 2016)

exball said:


> I've seen just as many retards on imageboards as I have on Tumblr. It's just less noticeable due to the anonymity, unless they're tripfags.



I've seen many, many more, but I've spent shit-tons of time on imageboards and only lolcow following on tumblr, where I don't even have an account.

Much more stupidity on chans is ironic shitposting, although there is no shortage of actual tards.


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## beechiness (Feb 22, 2016)

AnOminous said:


> Much more stupidity on chans is ironic shitposting, although there is no shortage of actual tards.



It's the (ostensible) self-awareness that makes me slightly more tolerant of chans.


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## nobody2590 (Mar 24, 2016)

(former /a/non reporting in, currently a tumblr lurker)

Thing about Tumblr and 4chan is they both produce different kinds of cancer. 4chan's users are generally self-aware that they are scumfucks, and don't hide from it. The fact that you cannot really filter posts easily (or maybe you can now, haven't been on /a/ since at least 2013) on 4chan means that you will get trolled, called a faggot and every other name in the book. Those who really can't handle it book it immediately. Those who stay learn to expect criticism and attacks. Tumblr, if anything, enables people to be spoiled and super sensitive because of filters and whitelists. Channers don't consider themselves special snowflakes that have to be catered to. 

Plus, you can't exactly blog about your life in 4chan. In tumblr, on your blog, you're the star, depending on how extroverted and gregarious you are.


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## AnOminous (Mar 24, 2016)

historyman101 said:


> The fact that you cannot really filter posts easily (or maybe you can now, haven't been on /a/ since at least 2013) on 4chan means that you will get trolled, called a faggot and every other name in the book. Those who really can't handle it book it immediately.



You can filter on all kinds of criteria so long as you know your way around a regex.  It's just that most people don't.


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## Jewish Culture (Mar 25, 2016)

I don't particularly care if 4chan produces "better" people than tumblr, because joke's on you if you ever get emotionally attached to either site in the first place.

The only real plus I can give to the chans is that due to the "anonymous" framework, you are not compelled to feel "connected" to other posters in any meaningful sense. It's just a place to hang out and discuss stuff, and that's it.

Tumblr on the other hand? Let's just say that the usual psychosexually sick critters go as far as making a lifestyle out of the website.


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## Ponderous Pillock (Mar 25, 2016)

I'm going to just sit here having been a member of neither site. But I will give what observations I can. 

I would say websites all boil down to how the culture is initially formed. After that you just have confirmation bias. 

The Oldfags teach the Newfags how to behave, what's acceptable and what's not (and considering Chan's generally anarchic nature there's very little). 

Anonymous has the ability of allowing aggression and other attitudes of getting out without there being any significant repercussions, which can play in favour for mental health and stability. Places granting anonymity allow people to do things they wouldn't normally say or do in a somewhat safe space. This can give people, namely the powerless, the ability to feel a bit more empowered by ironically giving them anonymity, a safe space in which repercussions are few and far between. This eventually allows them to apply the lessons learnt to real life but have to be sure this is carefully tempered. 

How they judge and do this? I'm not sure, but it points to a more robust mental health to begin with being able to learn about being faceless and about how little of life actually matters in the wider scheme of things. That ability to set aside yourself for a short while to see things differently and from different perspectives might be why this is. 

As Mark Twain once said; "The World Owes you nothing. It was here long before you and it will be here long after you."

Tumblr seems to attract a slightly different group of people. They listened to people telling them everyone is unique and special but like all of us they want and need somewhere to vent. This is where things can become problematic. 

They cannot separate from themselves like many of us can. Everything becomes more coloured. Individuals and names have power much like we see in real life, followings have typically one or two people at its top who in real life have little to no useful power or impact on the world. Because of that lack of anonymity, where those who stray out of line or say something wrong in 4chan might get a "faggot shut your stupid mouth" over in Tumblr we can see brigading and harassment campaign where folks see their own "safe space" betrayed. This is possibly what makes this culture that little bit more insidious than the other. 

Or to short version of it: I'm interested in who Paitient Zero is for both sides. They set the standards of the culture.


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## Pikimon (Mar 26, 2016)

Honestly 4chan nowadays is full of /pol/ edgelords who take anti-SJWism so far that they end up in MRA neckbeard territory. 

Tumblr is like 40% Porn, 10% Fashion blogs, 20% TV show gifs, and 30% SJWs. Most people just come for the porn.


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## Abethedemon (Apr 8, 2016)

We have to understand that both 4chan and tumblr are fairly diverse. 4chan has an /lgbt/ board, a /fit/ness board, an outdoors board, a /his/tory and humanities board in addition to it's nazis, porn peddlers and neckbeards.
Tumblr has many communities other than the dreaded warrior of social justice. Many companies have tumblr pages, as do crews for tv shows and artists. Tumblr also has a collection of other subcultures, such as Shortwave Radio enthusiasts, metal heads and even /pol/ leftovers. 
I think, to the outside world, tumblr has more prestige than 4chan, but 4chan has been fairly influential on the internet's culture, for better or for worse. 4chan is anonymous so it's harder to get statistics of the people there.
I'd say it's about even, because of all of the extremes.


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## AnOminous (Apr 8, 2016)

Abethedemon said:


> We have to understand that both 4chan and tumblr are fairly diverse. 4chan has an /lgbt/ board, a /fit/ness board, an outdoors board, a /his/tory and humanities board in addition to it's nazis, porn peddlers and neckbeards.
> Tumblr has many communities other than the dreaded warrior of social justice. Many companies have tumblr pages, as do crews for tv shows and artists. Tumblr also has a collection of other subcultures, such as Shortwave Radio enthusiasts, metal heads and even /pol/ leftovers.
> I think, to the outside world, tumblr has more prestige than 4chan, but 4chan has been fairly influential on the internet's culture, for better or for worse. 4chan is anonymous so it's harder to get statistics of the people there.
> I'd say it's about even, because of all of the extremes.



4chan is the Baby Jesus.

Tumblr is the insane tranny who rapes that Baby Jesus.


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## WeebyAutist (Apr 8, 2016)

At least they're not as bad as this hellhole. I hear all the posters are massive faggots.


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