anonymity
Itâs interesting to see that 4chan was based off of a Japanese site, especially when you consider the type of culture that is predominate in most Asian countries (Dibbell, 2010). Japan is a very high context culture, what constitutes proper behavior changes, sometimes dramatically, from one situation to another. Things like who you are with, who else is around, the location youâre in, what part of the world you are from, all of these and probably a lot more are taken into account to decide what is âcorrectâ and what isnât. This sort of environment can confuse the hell out of Westerners, we consider it two-faced or false to change how we act from situation to situation. The base for 4chan was built with that high context cultural influence, and I think you can see that in aspects of 4chan. Looking at high context, when a person shifts from one event to another, itâs like a reset, a clean slate. 4chanâs no pseudonym anonymous rule has the same effect. The ability to put an idea, opinion, or observation out in public, and have it exist only for a few minutes is a way for Westerners to have that new environment where they can completely change behavior without having their sense of self judged or questioned. Whether the 4chan universe is more valuable as a social steam valve, or a sub-culture creative forum is up for debate, but itâs not something the internet population can do without.















