So, I'm sure most people here think that textboards are dead, and/or never really flourished in the western world.

Do you think there's a way to get friends interested in this culture, or at least in this kind of forums even if they're not 2ch related (which look maybe too simplistic and dated for today's standards)? Is there a way to keep them alive?

I think that the only way that someone can "get into" textboard culture is being really interested in anonymity on the internet, Japanese internet culture, or 4chan's early history. As such, textboards will draw these individuals in naturally when they search for them...

I think textboard channels just need to be as well known as imageboard channels are. The reason people use them less than imageboards is simply because they don't know about them. On 4chan, the only boards linked from the front page are imageboards. And the majority of its imageboards are not used for images, but used for discussion instead. The majority of /b/ and other boards only have one image per thread simply because they are used for discussion and not images. You always see people posting "pic unrelated" at the end of their post because they are being forced to post an image no matter what. If /lounge/ were linked on the front page, you'd see 4chans imageboards being used for images and 4chans textboards being used for discussion a lot more. Moot does not care about 4chan as much more than a way for him to make money, but hes literally forgotten about the textboards. Right now it looks more like they are being used as places to archive spam. (laptop batteries, wedding dresses)

>>4
True, but some of the mods still care about world4ch (such as MrVacBob). The textboards of world4ch are also linked to by their partner boards, some of which have very high traffic (looking at /a/, /g/, and /v/ here, especially).

I think that it's good that our textboard communities are small and at least somewhat intelligent. The only people that post on them are the ones that are curious about them, and most people that are curious are at least somewhat intelligent.

They're still using Shiichan. Does moot hate Wakaba/Kareha so much?

>If /lounge/ were linked on the front page, you'd see 4chans imageboards being used for images and 4chans textboards being used for discussion a lot more

But then where are they going to put their FUN REACTION IMAGES!?

>>6
This is just my opinion, but maybe he dislikes his because no one from the 4chan staff ever took and part in their creation.

>>6
Mr VacBob modified Shiichan enough to make it usable. It's basically his creation now. There was his version floating around the net for a while.

To me, one particular reason that text boards flourished in the east yet not the west - particularly Japan - is that a large portion of internet access in these societies is entirely on mobile devices, rather than people sitting on PC's as you have in North America and Europe. That is not to say that there is no mobile use in western societies, but rather due to the highly urbanized and dense populations in a country like Japan, such forms of quick, easy, and immediate forms of communication will flourish more.

Where as, in the west, forums have and still currently are primary form of anonymous posting online to people across a global scale. This assumes that you exclude popular social networks like Twitter or Facebook where most peoples "friends" are known in real life. To me, social networks have no direct similarities to "anonymous" internet posting, such as what you get on Newsgroups, text boards, image boards, forums or even IRC, at least when comparing majority populations.

I think the most distinct difference is that most of the English speaking internet "culture" has moved onto more Web 2.0 style communication, with heavy emphasis on individuality and personality. Where as in Japan and Corea, they still use text based and similar minimalist styles of communication for whatever reasons.

As for a type of text board renaissance amongst western internet users, I highly doubt it. The main reason being, the internet is simply becoming more and more mainstream amongst every day people and is essentially a fundamental part of the Earths functionality at this point. People want accessibility and function. Even image boards are becoming a fringe interest, as shown by moots questionable attempt to turn 4chan into a Web 2.0 style network with Canvas (I can't speak for how it's doing though). The majority of memes and other peculiarities that spawned from image boards have been (subjectively) hi-jacked by the internet as a whole so I don't even believe there is a "need" for image boards. Those who post at them are part of either these following groups: 1) those who've been "part" of image boards for a while; 2) those who simply find them interesting and find them a useful way of communication, 3) pretentious snobs who think BBS boards are the only "real" form of communication, like the people that still haven't grown out of Newsgroups.

sup dawg, i heard (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ >>8 wanted images in his text board

I consider 4-ch to be a solid template for a Western textboard. All the right boards and topics are there, it just doesn't get enough traffic.

Though I'm scared to `advertise' it anywhere...the small userbase also happens to be one of the reasons it's my favourite board.