http://www.2ch.net
At first glance, nichanneru (Japanese for "two channel") seems like a rather innocuous website. It has a simple layout, advertisements everywhere... the only thing different for us (mostly English language speakers and all) is the fact that this entire website is in Japanese.
So, other than showing you that I am a Japan fanboy as well and that I know a Japanese website, what was the point to all of this?
Well, in terms of sheer posts, nichanneru owns Gaia completely.
There are 2,000,000 posts on 2channel every day. Every day. There are loads of message boards that do not even get to 2,000,000 posts total.
Hence social implication #1: What kind of effect could such a popular BBS have on society on a whole? Do remember that Japan is a much smaller country than America (in terms of populace, they have roughly 1/3 of our numbers).
Next, the posting system on 2channel is different than on Gaia. Basically, it has the following fields: Name, E-mail, Post Content. That is it. Anyone can come into the board and post, and while you are able to make up an Internet name, almost everyone chooses to remain completely anonymous.
For those who can, you can get something called a tripcode". Basically it works thusly: NAME#TRIPCODE. Anything you type after your name and # is used to generate a random hash value, which is your tripcode. Only you can make the tripcode because only you know the letters, numbers, and symbols that make it up to generate that specific value. Therefore it gives a tiny element of proof of identity on a board that heavily favors complete anonymity.
JSHIFT art is hugely popular. Take a look at the boards that I am reading right now, the 2channel English boards:
http://academy4.2ch.net/english/index.html
JSHIFT art is basically like ASCII art but much cooler. I am mentioning no social implications for this, I just think it is cool. d:
Lastly, thread survivability on 2channel is a big issue. Threads automatically "complete" at 1,000 posts (this is why they are numbered). After that, if you want to make a new thread, someone has to start a continuation. This ensures that the topic is basically refreshed every 1,000 posts. Imagine if Gaia automatically locked threads that hit only 1,000 posts!
I have created one thread myself. Here is the complete text of the first post, made by me:
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For an English section of the forum...
Name: Ihmhi E-mail: i_have_mental_health_issues@yahoo.com
...there is an awful lot of Japanese still flying around. d:
Chat with an American (me!) if you would like to. (^-^)Y
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That is it. In the course of roughly 400 replies so far, I have:
-been called a "nutcase" (most likely due to my e-mail addy xD)
-insulted
-called boring when I inexplicably had to leave
-impersonated during my absence
-asked if I was a "cherry boy" (a.k.a. a virgin) (...the answer is no.)
-asked where I live
-asked if I was really American
...it goes on. The thread in question is still going, and you can view it here if you would like to. It is mostly in English:
http://academy4.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/english/1152534360/-1000
As for this topic, let us get down to the important bits. Here are the discussion points:
-What kind of effect could such a popular BBS (remember, 2 million posts every day have on society on a whole?
-How would Gaia be if it allowed complete anonymity and had little or no moderation?
-If any English-language message board (Gaia, most likely) started getting postcounts in the millions every day, what sort of effect could it have on society?
-If a bunch of 2ch users found out about Gaia online and its chibi-ish avatar system, how long would it be before we were completely overrun by otaku?
I could have posted this in E.D. but I would have had to show a bunch of people I really do not know my thread in the 2ch forums in which I answer a lot of questons that I really do not want picked apart by the general Gaian public. Therefore, I have posted in an atmosphere where I have the same (or even greater) level of intellect as in the E.D., but a much greater level of respect and awesomenness.
