>>745675Your image starts many years into 4chan's existence.
Maybe I have grown up too much. My perspective certainly changed.
I had fun. It had that Wild West feeling. It was raw, sometimes pretty creative. Sure. But then I take a deep breath, push away the good memories and look at all the vile shit, the horrible user experience, all the genuinely illegal stuff.
Big parts of 4chan culture back then were actual child abuse and making fun of actual child abuse (pedobear, USB line, salty milk and all those "memes"). Raiding children's websites and spamming them with racism and swastikas (pool's closed, gaia, club pengu). And DDoSing anyone who even offered mild criticism (everyone charge your LOIC).
Those weren't accidents. Those weren't rogue elements. Those were cornerstones of the /b/tard identity back then. Not the majority, but substantial-enough parts to taint the whole.
I took part. It felt fun, forbidden, somewhat innocent. Looking back now, it was not. 4chan was way more of a horrific cesspool back then and I can't objectively agree that was "less bad" than what we have today. I'll take today's mild, toned-down 4chan with a smooth user experience any day over the piece of shit back then. I like that it aged with me.
