I don't know how to leave 4chan

[Deleted member 48434]

I don't remember how long it's been, maybe 5 years?
I remember I started lurking Gaf before I started lurking /v/. Back then, I was in high school, Gamer-gate was happening, and I was a bitter lonely guy who thought there may have been truth in the things they said. I've changed since then. I've grown, made some friends. I would consider myself pretty god damn politically left and progressive now.

But I still visit 4chan's /v/ board almost daily however. I no longer lurk, but often (shit)post. I don't repeat racist or sexist rhetoric that often gets spammed there, but by merely choosing to be present, I feel like I support it. I hate the place. I hate everyone who posts there. And I hate myself for visiting. It's a total shithole, and is becoming even more so due to /pol/s constantly growing presence.

I can't bring myself to leave. I've tried, 2 months is my record. Those 2 months began when I opened a spoilered picture and got greeted with CP. Only saw it for a split second, but It was burned into my mind. But the place is addicting as all hell. I got lured back by the promise of Resident Evil memes, "Just a peak " I told myself. The threads move so fast, and the memes are often sublime. I need more things to do that aren't Era and /v/ when I'm bored at home and not occupied with a video game.

Don't forget, you're there forever.

I can't shake my Era addiction either, but at least Era isn't a shithole.

 

[DGenerator]

The more you meet, communicate with, and are friendly, to people who don't look like you, the easier it is to leave 4chan.

 

[Deleted member 2533]

Reddit's pretty good, also consider some medium-to-long form sites like The Ringer, or news/article aggregators like Metafiler.com. There are various discord channels as well that can serve up rapid-fire conversations as well.

 

[terminaljeremy]

Sounds like you want to leave. You can do it. Remove the bookmarks or the apps that get you there and soon you'll forget about it. If you want to risk viewing CP for the price of RE memes then, well, I'm glad I'm not your lawyer. Do yourself a favour and find a nicer place to lay your sweet head.

 

[tgrfawcett]

First things first, you might consider making concentrated efforts to pick up new hobbies around the house. Anything to break you of that reliance on social media platforms. But if that still doesn't do it, I enjoy following news personalities and gaming personalities on Twitter.

 

[Ryuelli]

Try browsing some of the less popular boards that are honestly alright, something like /gd/ or /p/ and than ween yourself off slowly from those.

Alternatively, block the entire site at a router level so that it feels like you'll actually have to make an effort to go to it.

 

[TaySan]

Reddit is a good alternative. I mostly just stick to certain subreddits and Era only.

 

[patientzero]

This is going to seem dismissive, but I mean it with utter sincerity -

 

[Avitus]

The threads move so fast, and the memes are often sublime.

Click to shrink...

Try growing up.

 

[nemoral]

If you can't control yourself, block it at the router. If you need help controlling yourself, remember that people that post on 4chan are garbage.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

Try browsing some of the less popular boards that are honestly alright, something like /gd/ or /p/ and than ween yourself off slowly from those.

Alternatively, block the entire site at a router level so that it feels like you'll actually have to make an effort to go to it.

Click to shrink...

Tried that, unfortunately, Telstra shitty routers don't allow blocking.

Reddit's pretty good.

Click to shrink...

I would disagree. And I visit Reddit regularly. Most people do.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Go to another site when you think about visiting 4chan. Maybe another visit to Era.

 

[TacomaSCDisaster]

I know the feeling. I spent well over a decade on The Vestibule on IGN, a place that's legitimately toxic and awful. It's a poisonous combination of tryhard edgy shitposters and legitimate black holes of misery and anger. I stopped enjoying my visits there years ago, but I simply couldn't leave out of habit.

My suggestion is going cold turkey. I logged out of my accounts there and blocked the site for about three months. I went back out of curiosity about a week ago and after just a few days I've decided I'm done with that place for good.

IGN should probably just ax their forums completely at this point. Most of their forums are ghost towns except for the Vestibule, and that place is a fucking pit.

 

[StrangerDanger]

It's the nature of spontaneity and internet culture associated with it. Aka, you never know what crossover shit you are going to get. You are glued to the internet and need to find other activities outside the web to be occupied with.

 

[Ryaaan14]

Reddit is deluxe 4chan. Period. If u want a 4chan experience on Reddit just sort by new in every sub.

 

[GamerJM]

I found it pretty easy. I was pretty active in the 2011-2013 period but left around the time of GamerGate when it became clear to me just how shitty the userbase was in a completely unironic way. The anonymity meant that I felt no ties to the general community there.

Quitting GameFAQs is basically impossible for me though. I hate it but I'm too entrenched in the community and no other forum really fills the same urge for me.

Also 4chan memes have really gone down hill the past few years IMO. I used to agree that they were way better than Reddit or whatever but now they're mostly spewing the same shit as the rest of the internet. The last halfway decent one was Todd Howard.

 

[Catshade]

If you want memes, try 9gag.

 

[Reversed]

You could also use Blocksite on Chrome or edit your hosts file to avoid seeing those sites.

 

[Toxi]

Spend less time online. Spend more time with people IRL and doing the work you enjoy.

Hell, just spending more time gaming with friends is a good way to spend less on fan sites.

 

[Demon Lizardman]

I really just go on there for /co/ and /ic/ and maybe /x/ for spooky stories. Any other board is filled with alt right fuckos that can't hold a conversation and spam dumb and racist shit. Then again, it's probably for /pol/ but I have been going there less through out the years. I mostly just go on here or watch Vinesauce when it comes to internet entertainment.

 

[Deleted member 4482]

The more you meet, communicate with, and are friendly, to people who don't look like you, the easier it is to leave 4chan.

Click to shrink...

This is exactly the right answer, and what worked for me.

 

[Deleted member 2109]

Just stop. if you can't replace it with a non-shithole site just close your computer and go outside... or inside and watch tv.

 

[chrisPjelly]

Honestly, just find more (healthy) hobbies to occupy your spare time. I had the same problem for a while (still do a little, just with different sites), and I found that drawing and going to the gym was a more therapeutic distraction.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

The more you meet, communicate with, and are friendly, to people who don't look like you, the easier it is to leave 4chan.

Click to shrink...

You assume I visit due to racism?
To say I don't agree with the politics on 4chan would be an immense understatement.

 

[Alucrid]

Those 2 months began when I opened a spoilered picture and got greeted with CP. Only saw it for a split second, but It was burned into my mind.

Click to shrink...

uh i don't know but i would think that would get anyone off a site

 

[Kaz Mk II]

How can you still stand to go to /v/? It's nothing but kneejerk reactions, fap bait, toxic conversations, and memes (on top of the trans/homophobia and racism). Unless memes are that big of a pull I dont see a real reason to use it anymore. I'm not even sure I understand WHY you're addicted to it.

I browse many websites and sometimes dip into 4chan (primarily /ic/ and some of the NSFW boards). But I'm not sure I've ever been "addicted" to any website.

It seems like you're way too entertained by memes (which you could also get plenty of on twitter), solving that seems like your primary problem and not some 4chan addiction.

 

[collige]

If you're looking for memes and fast moving content, Twitter is the better option, though tbh I'm sure there's a lot of overlap between /v/ and gamign Twitter.

The more you meet, communicate with, and are friendly, to people who don't look like you, the easier it is to leave 4chan.

Click to shrink...

Ironically enough, I met, communicated with, and was friendly with a lot of people who don't look like me on 4chan, but that was also a very long time ago when people actually gave a shit.

 

[Vilix]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

 

[CallMeShaft]

Leave that wretched place or we'll all act like an evil mob and chase you off ERA. You have to decide, it's those assholes or us? Who do you love more???

 

[Mobu]

How can you still be so attached to /v/ when its just wojak spam 24/7, get some taste my dude

 

[Deleted member 48434]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

Click to shrink...

8chan is where people from 4chan went after gamergate, who thought 4chan was "too soft".
In other words, it's the shithole of shitholes.

 

[PennyStonks]

You assume I visit due to racism?
To say I don't agree with the politics on 4chan would be an immense understatement.

Click to shrink...

Then why is it hard to leave? It might be somewhat contained to the problem boards, but the site is steeped in "ironic"/"edgelord" bigotry everywhere.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

Click to shrink...

8chan is the shit that was too extreme for 4chan. Digging any deeper into what that means isn't healthy.

 

[DGenerator]

You assume I visit due to racism?
To say I don't agree with the politics on 4chan would be an immense understatement.

Click to shrink...

It's harder to be okay with, and be an active poster amongst, the sexist, ableist, racist, misogynist, transphobic bullshitters if your network of people you care about is hurt by their actions. That's all I'm saying.

 

[sphagnum]

Spend 10bux for SomethingAwful. Lowtax needs the money.

 

[Cocolina]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

Click to shrink...

It's where you go for news about THQ Nordic

 

[collige]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

Click to shrink...

From a technical perspective, the big difference is that 8chan lets users create their own board like Reddit while 4chan has a specific list of boards controlled by the admins.
The real difference though is that 8chan is populated by gamergators, pedos, and general scumbags who would get banned from better parts of the Internet.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

Then why is it hard to leave? It might be somewhat contained to the problem boards, but the site is steeped in "ironic"/"edgelord" bigotry everywhere.

Click to shrink...

It scratches some sort of itch that nowhere else is capable of scratching for some reason.

So many of the reply's in this thread are basically "I don't understand how one can be addicted to that, just leave lmao."

 

[ZealousD]

I just learned there's a 8chan. What's the difference between 8chan and 4chan? Is there a 12chan?

Click to shrink...

You know how bad 4chan is?

8chan became a thing because 4chan wasn't horrible enough.

 

[Fat4all]

So many of the reply's in this thread are basically "I don't understand how one can be addicted to that, just leave lmao."

Click to shrink...

I'd imagine a good bit of the people in this thread quit Neogaf and made their own Theme Park with Blackjack and strippers

 

[patientzero]

It scratches some sort of itch that nowhere else is capable of scratching for some reason.

So many of the reply's in this thread are basically "I don't understand how one can be addicted to that, just leave lmao."

Click to shrink...

The root of addiction is attempting to cope with something.

Maybe a little introspection into why a hateful wasteland scratches some itch might help you.

 

[Chivalry]

Block it? There are extensions for that.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

The root of addiction is attempting to cope with something.

Maybe a little introspection into why a hateful wasteland scratches some itch might help you.

Click to shrink...

Probably has somthing to do with having ASD and being introverted and feeling like a bit of an outcast.

 

[Deleted member 20892]

It's where you go for news about THQ Nordic

Click to shrink...

lmao

 

[NESpowerhouse]

I never got to big into 4chan, but I'm just not that big a fan of the way the boards are structured. I still occasionally pop in every now and then to see what crazy shenanigans are going on over there (shit got REAL crazy during the Minecraft Steve vs Grinch Smash leak), but I mostly just spend my internet time on Era and Discord and watching YouTube. I got Reddit as well, but I don't really post there. The first forum I joined was the Zelda Dungeon forums back in like 2012 or so, and I also used to post a bit in the IGN comments as well. I still sometimes like to go back and visit the old ZD, and I'm always delighted to find many of the same people are still there. If anyone used to post there as well, let me know. I went by the same username back then as well.

 

[takriel]

This is me with Era.

 

[Jordan117]

Reddit's pretty good, also consider some medium-to-long form sites like The Ringer, or news/article aggregators like Metafiler.com. There are various discord channels as well that can serve up rapid-fire conversations as well.

Click to shrink...

Good suggestion (especially if you want the opposite of 4chan's bigotry and general garbage), but it's Metafilter.

 

[Droidian]

check out some inspirational youtube videos on positive thinking and motivations for doing stuff outside the internet that is healthy and production.
You can train your mind to enjoy other things, start jogging lightly every day.
Subscribe to reddit/aww
Don't let the sick twisted shit of the internet consume you, our human minds are very sensitive and no one can say they can take it.

 

[Gearkeeper 8A]

Probably has somthing to do with having ASD and being introverted and feeling like a bit of an outcast.

Click to shrink...

i have the same problem, the thing is that there are times(mostly off topic threads when moderators are sleep) when the content is good enough like the "real life boss" threads, or "filename threads", other boards like /m/ doesn''t have it as bad, but the board has gone to the trash since 2007

 

[TheBeardedOne]

It can be hard to move away from a website you visit daily, or multiple times a day. I've done it before, with other sites. You don't think that you'll be able to, but eventually it becomes normal not to visit it. You stop missing it, mostly. And things move on. You find new interests or sites to visit.