Everyday, millions of people around the world browse the internet for many different purposes including, watching videos, reading articles, and buying products online. Another activity that fellow internet users participate in is online discussion about any and every topic imaginable; which is why I have taken it upon myself to talk about the internet's most infamous discussion board, 4chan.
4chan has a large catalog of boards to choose from, a few examples being video games, music, anime, cars, any many more. Throughout the years, this website has had quite a formidable reputation and was even reported on by national news networks. Since 4chan does not censor its users and due to the anonymity inherent in the website, people are free to talk about anything in any manner they choose. While many people may consider this an issue, it is mostly harmless and it may well be the only website (or at least on of the few) that allows its users to exercise their right of free speech. It also allows users to share images and videos anonymously but only as long as it falls within American law, so the only media that is not allowed posts that break the law. And it is because of this that I believe that 4chan represents the pure essence of the internet, all the good, the bad, and the ugly. Simply allowing users to speak their minds gives it a unique appeal that other discussion websites or apps such as Reddit do not have.
Upon entering the website, the home page greets you with three eye-catching elements, first, the four-leaf clover located at the very top of the page, the next thing you see directly below is a box that contains all the boards available, 76 total boards to choose from. Following below is another box advertising current popular threads. The image posted below is how the front page looks like to all members.
After choosing and clicking on a board to view, you are presented with up to 10 pages containing samples of threads each talking about your chosen topic; every individual thread can be opened separately on multiple different tabs simultaneously. A comparison I can give to this description is an assorted box of chocolates, since chocolate was chosen, everything in the box will be chocolate but there will be a variety of different flavors available. For example, on the homepage, I click on the Video Games board an am able to view multiple different discussions regarding video games. and starting a thread of your own is very simple, all you need to do is click on the button at the top [Start a New Thread]. The following image is an example of threads generally look.
Now of course, no website is perfect and the design of 4chan is incredibly outdated despite still being easy to use which calls for a modernized design that is more attractive and customizable. Another issue is that the homepage is simply unattractive to look at, especially since first impressions are the most important ones. A cleaner look for the front page will make it easier on the eyes and appeal to a larger audience. And the final improvement I'd make is adding their search bar to the front page rather that solely within each board, this way a user can search for specific keywords and find related threads.
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