There are few sites that have had as much of an impact on the internet as 4chan. The message board has been responsible for countless big online moments over the years, not all of them especially admirable. Nonetheless, it can still provide a lot of entertainment if you know where to look. If there's one thing you can expect from 4chan, it's to expect the unexpected — just like the examples below.
4chan
What is it about Shroomjak that has the Internet enraptured? Is it his coy smile? His kind eyes? His delightful toadstool shape? Or have we fallen so deep into a pit of irony that we can't help but repost the funny mushroom man until our brains melt and all that remains is a demented memetic oblivion? All we know is that a new wojak dropped and he's taken over the shitposting realm. What he wants from us is yet to be seen.
It all started in January when someone anonymously posted the first known image of Shroomjak to 4chan's /b/ board, accompanied by a mild message: 'I made my own wojak.' In any other context, Shroomjak's pleasant, unassuming vibe paired with OP's innocuous comment might have provoked a simple 'good job' or maybe even a 'lol.' But this is 4chan, where dreams are crushed and toxicity runs high.
Being the insular 'online community' that 4chan is, Shroomjak didn't immediately escape the boards and spread to mainstream social networks, but as we all know, it only takes one tweet or Instagram post for a new meme to go viral. According to Know Your Meme, the /b/ screenshot was shared on Twitter in late June and has since been edited, remixed and shared across social media like wildfire. While many are already tired of seeing that demure expression lurking around every virtual corner, shitposters everywhere are reveling in the glorious excess of Shroomjak posts.
Unlike the crying wojaks, coomers, chads, tradwives, brainlets, npc wojaks, pink wojaks, withered wojaks and every other wojak that came before, Shroomjak stands out as the lovable everyman's wojak—a wojak without malice or political agenda. Is he even human? No, he's just a fun guy.
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Ever come across a meme that felt like someone took a pretty dumb format and made it way worse on purpose? Or perhaps some pure cringe that was posted sincerely in its original context but somehow got elevated to meme-status? Enter the shitpost. Enigma of the meme world. Hailed by weirdos and trolls alike. Shitposts aren't for everyone and we totally get that. If you're looking for some regular-ass memes, you should do yourself a favor and close your browser now. If you're in the market for some pure internet trash perfect for spamming the group chat with, keep scrolling.
Via Know Your Meme
The Trollface was originally drawn by Carlos Ramirez, an Oakland-based artist known by his DeviantART handle Whynne, as part of an MS Paint webcomic about the pointless nature of trolling on 4chan's /v/ board. While the comic was first uploaded in 2008, it has made a huge resurgence in popularity starting in 2020 with memes such as "Cover Yourself in Oil." And Don Caldwell of Know Your Meme is here to explain why.
Via Know Your Meme
Although Rage Comics have steadily declined since the early 2010s, their mark on internet culture will never be completely forgotten. One such Rage Face, known as "Me Gusta," has also had a significant impact on the internet, but like many ancient memes, its true origins are somewhat lost to the ages. What started out as another routine interview quickly transformed into some major, never-before-seen developments as we learn the true story of how Me Gusta first went viral on 4chan.
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Self-owns aren't just for insecure types. Sometimes kamikaze by words is the only way one can win a battle of insults. For internet rubberneckers who love to catch a good Twitter fight or Reddit thread squabble, we've got a handful of spicy times people roasted themselves just to take someone else down with them. We've gotta hand it to these madlads—it takes a bit of skill to annihilate someone through a self-own.
On October 1, 2003, fifteen year old Christopher 'Moot' Poole launched an anonymous, image-based bulletin board called 4chan, not yet knowing what an impact the modest web experiment would have on internet culture in the coming years. Today, one can find a variety of boards on the website dedicated to niche interests, including anime & manga, cosplay, comics, video games, political incorrectness, quests, and a vast array of NSFW content. But at the time of its launch, 4chan hosted only one 'random' board called /b/. Despite its simple beginnings, 4chan hasn't significantly changed in its nearly eighteen years of existence. Unlike other notable message board websites like Reddit, you don't need to register an account to participate (in fact, there is no account registration), you must upload an image to begin a new thread, and anyone can post anonymously. Although there are a list of general site rules and specific rules for each board that users must obey in order to avoid getting banned, to this day the site is one of the more uninhibited corners of the internet. Because of this, 4chan has been the subject of much controversy over the years. As the terminally-online know all too well, the ability to post freely and anonymously will inevitably yield disturbing and ugly results. But despite the fact that many view 4chan as a grotesque reflection of the darkest aspects of the human condition (as it very well may be), it's impossible to deny that the infamous website has influenced the internet in ways that no other web-based 'community' has. Out of the boards of 4chan rose rage comics, lolcats, and duckrolling (the precursor to rickrolling). One could argue that 4chan was the birthplace of the internet meme as we know it. 4chan may be a fringe online ecosystem shrouded in mystery to those who consume their memes from the safety of Twitter or Instagram, but some research has suggested that most of the memes in circulation originated from /pol/, which raises the question—do we forgive 4chan for the alt-right, because...memes?
Ironically, screenshots of the most innocuous and least offensive posts from notoriously feral boards like /b/ now have their own home on a subreddit called r/greentext, or 'the realm of the most anti-climactic short stories from 4chan.' Many of the snippets featured on the sub collectively paint a more somber, tragic, and sometimes even wholesome picture of the 'anon' character. It's fascinating how the perception of an entire internet ecosystem can be manipulated by curating the content it produces. One could just as easily collect the most reprehensible posts from 4chan and suddenly 'anon' becomes an entirely unsympathetic character. In reality, 'anon' is millions of users—some malicious, some well-intentioned, all participating in an internet of anarchy that is difficult to define. We've collected some of the more harmless snapshots of /b/ via r/greentext, not to misrepresent the website, but instead to offer a small window into the insular world of 4chan to those who are mildly curious.
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Move over Big Tiddy Goth GF and Mommy GF - the freaks of the internet are clamoring for a new breed of partner: the Tomboy GF. Unlike the dark-clad and maternal girlfriend options, tomboy girlfriends have all the qualities dudes like about themselves and their friends (along with female anatomy). Memes idealizing a Tomboy GF (often featuring anime characters) started popping up earlier in 2020, and while they may have gotten lost in the shuffle of coronavirus and anti-racism protests, there are quite a few to scroll through. We think the sudden boom is partially due to the recent 'Femboy Hooters' meme, as people on Twitter started stacking the imaginary establishment against 'Tomboy Outback.' We'd be happy to dine at either, but really we're just here for the memes.
When we think of wholesome, happy-tears internet, 4chan is usually the last website on our mind. The image-based messageboard is a hotbed of web savagery at its most despicable - 99% of the time. The subreddit r/Wholesome4chan sheds light on the brighter, sappier side of the inflammatory site. We hope you've got tissues on hand.
Does this feel too out of character? Here's a gallery of cursed images like you'd expect to find on 4chan on a regular day. But if you're suddenly in the mood for more heartwarming content try these wholesome memes and give in to the feels.
The James Bond film Casino Royale is back in a big way - on 4chan. Since late April of this year, users have been playing with memes and jokes that imagine Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre playing kids games instead of poker. The photoshops are brilliant. Le Chiffre's intensity and attitude applied to a game of Uno or Bop It is meme gold. The jokes the users are writing are almost better. That Le Chiffre snideness is impossibly funny when applied to Yahtzee or Go Fish. For more gold, visit the thread yourself.
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Anon tells a classic "green text" story about his grandmother's quest to get her car back after his grandfather passes away.
This is one riveting, oscar worthy tale.
Since these aren't as prevealent anymore, those unfamiliar with "green text" stories will find some explaination here:
Know Your Meme: Green Text Stories
