4chan
Ranked 6 of 17 discussion forums by recommenders
Recommended for free, anonymous, lightly moderated discussion with no voting or user IDs. Critics say it hosts a lot of disgusting and extremist content.
Recommended for free, anonymous, lightly moderated discussion with no voting or user IDs. Critics say it hosts a lot of disgusting and extremist content.
51 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 23
- approval share
- 55%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
No voting or user IDs
“the lack of voting made engaging with the actual substance of a post much easier”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Finland to end "uncontrolled human experiment" with ban on youth social media” “With no user ids no one is harvesting karma/reputation”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “Greece to ban anonymity on social media” Defends free speech
“4chan was one of the operators who are doing the noble thing in the face of all this hysteria”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Age verification is just a precursor to automated attribution of speech” “Don't use 4chan, but great job standing up to the continued attack on Free Speech.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “US messageboard 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches” “4chan is fighting harder to resist these attacks on free speech and association”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Ofcom concedes defeat in 4chan case” - Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “UK's Ofcom has today fined 4chan £450k for not having age checks in place”
- Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Is surveillance risk chilling your online speech?”
Debate between opposed sides
“I have found it the most accessible source for learning about and discussing many of the most important issues of our time”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “What 1.4M emails reveal about America's most notorious sex offender” “4chan is also the only place where 2 extremely opposed sides can and regularly do interact”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “My Feed, My Way” “higher quality debates and more diverse opinions than Reddit”
Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “Doomscrolling ourselves to death” - Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “US messageboard 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches”
More pleasant than other social media
“it's overall a much more pleasant place than most other social medias”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts” “4chan is a more rejuvenating and life affirming place than Linkedin”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “LinkedIn Larpmaxxing” “4chan is a peaceful place compared to modern social media”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “France passes bill to ban social media use by under-15s”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Extremist and racist content
“anonymity taken to it's extreme has resulted in on one hand yes a lot of disgusting stuff, but also a cultural hotbed”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Age verification is just a precursor to automated attribution of speech” “4chan has /pol/. 4chan inspired Gamergate, Pizzagate, QAnon and numerous incidents of extremist violence.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “TikTok's 'Addictive Design' Found to Be Illegal in Europe” “The combination of humor + racism/misogyny is like crack at brainwashing kids.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts” - Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts”
Fake news and propaganda
“4chan is so full of fake news, CIA/FSB/Mossad shills and doctored screenshots that it forces you to be skeptical”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Ofcom concedes defeat in 4chan case” “it is well known to be an intel gathering and propaganda disseminating platform”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Ofcom concedes defeat in 4chan case” Low-quality, mind-numbing posts
“4chan is much better these days but it's still where neurons go die.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “US messageboard 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches” “Low quality porn at that. Their size limits and board post limits keep it that way.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “US messageboard 4Chan mocks £520k fine for UK online safety breaches” “It's no better than Twitter or 4chan at this point.”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “Be Wary of Bluesky”
Other discussion forums people recommend
The four most recommended other discussion forums, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hacker News | 361 | 156 | 70% | 12 | 10 yrs17 owners | Approved |
| 261 | 988 | 21% | 13 | 14 yrs54 owners | — | |
| Lobsters | 105 | 31 | 77% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Old Reddit | 60 | 47 | 56% | 12 | — | — |
| 4chanThis page | 28 | 23 | 55% | 11 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 54 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“although so are many other much more childish things”
“4chan is so full of fake news, CIA/FSB/Mossad shills and doctored screenshots that it forces you to be skeptical”
“it is well known to be an intel gathering and propaganda disseminating platform”
“4chan is fighting harder to resist these attacks on free speech and association”
“All these are centralized platforms where owners have free reign to block and suppress anyone.”
“4chan is a more rejuvenating and life affirming place than Linkedin”
“the latter has really been nothing but a positive presence in my life”
“4chan is also the only place where 2 extremely opposed sides can and regularly do interact”
“higher quality debates and more diverse opinions than Reddit”
“you should look for them where they actually are many of them (Gab, 4chan, etc)”
“4chan still allows free speech”
“That's the fastest way for the issues to get attention both good and bad and get a fix in as fast as possible.”
“you can see at the top of its box a list of child comments that have replied to that comment”
“4chan was one of the operators who are doing the noble thing in the face of all this hysteria”
“anonymity taken to it's extreme has resulted in on one hand yes a lot of disgusting stuff, but also a cultural hotbed”
“4chan fights CSAM (as I understand)”
“With no user ids no one is harvesting karma/reputation”
“the other places devoted to discussing some of the hobbies I go to twitter for, are much more toxic”
“Low quality porn at that. Their size limits and board post limits keep it that way.”
“This creates especially interesting and honest discussions.”
“4chan is much better these days but it's still where neurons go die.”
“4chan was pretty cool, one of the best sites there ever was. It has had the most impact on the internet.”
“Don't use 4chan, but great job standing up to the continued attack on Free Speech.”
“Always a good place for a little catharsis.”
“4chan fighting for us all! Bravo.”
“I frequented it and turned out fine.”
“Maybe 4chan and 8kun are better reserved for the more adventorous adults”
“It's no better than Twitter or 4chan at this point.”
“I have found it the most accessible source for learning about and discussing many of the most important issues of our time”
“4chan has /pol/. 4chan inspired Gamergate, Pizzagate, QAnon and numerous incidents of extremist violence.”
“makes it better than the others in its design”
“the lack of voting made engaging with the actual substance of a post much easier”
“This will sound crazy but this is why I still use 4chan.”
“4chan is a peaceful place compared to modern social media”
“Then I'd argue you haven't actually been to the darkest corners of 4chan.”
“The combination of humor + racism/misogyny is like crack at brainwashing kids.”
“it's overall a much more pleasant place than most other social medias”
“they just pushed every child in Australia to un-moderated and decentralised social networks”
“4chan's system is pretty good. You can display your country or you can pick from a 'meme flag'”
“4 Chan continues to be the best actually "free"/borderline unmoderated forum to this date.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.