The Internet is a perfect reflection of the world at large. It
has everything in it except homeless people and that's only
because they can't afford the monthly hookup charge.
The Internet is scary to people because it TRULY makes everyone
equal.
All the people who are invisible in the normal world (the world
run by the rich and powerful), all those people you can dismiss
on the street as powerless and harmless -- ALL THOSE PEOPLE are
now in your face.
You can feel their hot breath on the Internet.
It's called "humanity."
America was invented to empower those people. It's just taken
this long to find out how to do it.
After all, the Net is just telephone lines, computer screens and
satellite hook-ups. It's purely technical.
Its only purpose is to bring the real world into focus. Anyone
who opposes that should go back and read the Declaration of
Independence.
I don't visit 4chan but I believe there's definitely value to seeing people anonymously post their thoughts. Whether they're saying something true or whether they're just trying to get a reaction, to get a look at what people will say when they're totally unhindered by any social norms or repercussions is very interesting. The thoughts that people are normally afraid to share are usually wrong, but sometimes people are afraid to share ideas that are right, as well.
https://subgenius.com/bigfist/answers/articles2/X0095_The_Gr...
Here's the tail end, I think it's relevant:
I don't visit 4chan but I believe there's definitely value to seeing people anonymously post their thoughts. Whether they're saying something true or whether they're just trying to get a reaction, to get a look at what people will say when they're totally unhindered by any social norms or repercussions is very interesting. The thoughts that people are normally afraid to share are usually wrong, but sometimes people are afraid to share ideas that are right, as well.