4Chan, the notoriously controversial Internet forum has been reportedly sold to 2Channel founder Hiroyuki Nishimura for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was announced today a year after the imageboard's administrator Christopher Poole resigned from office.
Over the years, 4Chan seemed to have earned a negative image since it became known for its chaotic and unpleasant comments, not to mention the freedom to post funny pics or leak naked photos of Hollywood celebrities and even Internet harassment plans. However, Poole launched the forum when he was 15 years old as a place to talk about anime and Japanese culture. Its creation was also inspired by 2Channel, a Japanese anime forum.
Despite its negativity, Poole's 4Chan creation made a major influence on Internet culture, Forbes noted. And though Poole has long maintained a hands-off approach and spent much of his adult life establishing anti-4Chans such as Canvas and Drawquest, he admitted that the controversial imageboard was "one of the greatest communities to ever grace the Web."
Now, 4Chan is being sold to the man who inspired its creation, Hiroyuki Nishimura, a Japanese web entrepreneur-turned-magazine editor. And with the acquisition, Poole's vision to create an American version of 2Channel may still be in the horizon. But since the details of the deal remains undisclosed, the future of 4Chan is still a mystery.
With 4Chan's new ownership, there will be an unknown impact waiting for its users, but Rapid News Network said it isn't going to get cleaned up any time soon. Poole also emphasized that he is confident that Hiroyuki would keep with site's history of providing an "almost rules-free, anonymous messageboard," noting that the site is nearing 2 billion posts and is about to celebrate its 12th anniversary.
"There is nobody more qualified than Hiroyuki to lead 4chan, and I can't think of a person better suited for the task," Poole said.
4Chan has always been operated more as a "labor of love" instead of a business, according to My Tech Bits. 2channel, on the other hand, depends on funding that comes from a more interruptive form of advertising, which forces its users to view ads before allowing them to see the content.
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