NSFW! Many of the links in this post and in the comments host porn, and in some cases, gore. Be careful browsing if at work.

Ask me how I know.

I used to use them. I really loved the fact that you can ask questions really freely and get quite raw answers (I don't like the so called "reddit style").

Then I stopped browsing them since it felt like doomscrolling even though these platforms were not designed to encourage that.

I like imageboards. I think it's partly nostalgia for me too. They remind me of the tolerance and freedom that was present on the early internet. Everything in contrast feels so heavily moderated or censored. Forums can be good too, but it's so hard to find good forums these days, and they tend to have quite a bit of moderation compared to imageboards so it's not the same.

In my opinion imageboards are dying. They used to be much better when they were more popular. I've also noticed that they're increasingly getting infested with spam and scams these days too. The golden age of imageboards was definitely ~15 years ago. Their appeal has largely been displaced by social media and sites like Reddit.

I’m visiting a local board from time to time, won’t share the name. It has a pretty strong tech and ai boards. Speech is raw but mostly helpful. It also has few non-tech boards that are (occasionally) comfy. Reddit doesn’t cut it and feels like mindless reposts of reblogs and toy science.

Never seen an english-speaking board that wasn’t political or just cringe-y garbage, tbh. Maybe it’s a cultural thing amplified by usual IB format. All other boards I visit are boorus.

Guess I'm the only one XD

Oh well!

I'd have expected a bigger overlap between chans and HN

https://savee.it/ is a cool imageboard

What is an i board and a skid?

Having never used an imageboard, I feel qualified to answer this:

1. /i/ is apparently "oekaki" board, which is for drawing -- at least on 4chan. I have no clue how it relates to programming.

2. "skid" is a term the Zoomers use for "script kiddie".

Your attempt is appreciated but some pedantry if I may:

1. /i/ on non-4chan sites is where raids and invasions are conducted

2. skid has been in use for decades, it's not a zoomer thing at all. Here's an urban dictionary entry from 12 years ago: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Skids

Thank you for clarifying.

Disclaimer: I am way above the median HN age, so 12 years ago is pretty much yesterday to me.

OP probably meant /g/ which is the tech board

Actually i was referring to /i/nsurgency aka /i/nvasion, the board where raids are conducted! Eg: leftychan.net/i/ or 711chan.wtf/i/

Thanks! I'm going to sound really old now, lol, but what is a "Zoomer"? Is that the same thing as Gen Z?

Edit: Wikipedia says it is. What a funny term. Wonder if it comes from a play on Boomers or from growing up with Zoom through the pandemic?

Both. But yes, "zoomer" refers to teenager.

It is a portmanteau of Boomer and Generation Z, though many assume it has to do with zoom, which causes much eye-rolling from Gen Z.

I'm pretty sure our very existence causes much eye-rolling from Gen Z, lol.

It was hard enough growing up as a Millennial at the dawn of the internet. I can't imagine what it's like being born into today's world. Our information superhighway seems to have led straight into their digital dystopia.

I still visit lainchan sometimes but always close the tab disappointed by the lack of quality or even funny discussions.

I really wish there was an imageboard with the activity level of 4chan and maturity (or moderation) of HN.

Likely most of the old 4chan folks are HN aged today. I'm surprised nobody has made a modern imageboard app or something yet. Image storage/retrieval is so cheap now and you have all the chaos of multimodal AIs. I just loved the irc era of writing scripts for everything. Imagine that plus cheap AI editing.

I once made an HN based board just to learn htmx: https://hnchan.darigo.su/

only a few posts, since it's really just a learning project. But feel free to visit regardless :)

Everyone is on Discord now.

Nope. I never fell for 4-chan. For me it was too cynical and chaotic.

There are cozier imageboards out there. Sushi Girl is pretty laid back: https://sushigirl.us/lounge/index.html