The founder of popular and controversial image board, 4chan, has retired after 11 and a half years.
Chris Poole, who uses the alias moot, has retired from running the site he developed at the age of 15 and will be transferring ownership of the site.
Livestreaming on 23 January, Poole remarked that “being moot is not so desirable” but characterised the site as one of “the largest and greatest and most storied communities to ever grace the web”.
Regarding the site’s often negative reputation he suggested that 4chan does “more good than bad”.
Poole claimed that while “some of [the reputation] is deserved,” he reiterated that /b/ and /pol/ are “just a fraction of the site and community”.
Speaking about pro GamerGate activity on the site that was outlawed, he said that he didn’t want to use the site as “a platform for activism” and for a minority to “drag 4chan into this battle”.
He said that the leaking of explicit celebrity pictures and GamerGate were “very draining” and potentially “accelerated” his retirement plans.
Though the site began as “a happy accident”, Poole suggests that people shouldn’t “discount how much work has gone into making 4chan what it is today”.
