Most people who have heard of 4chan believe it to be a toxic place.
I actually have the opposite opinion.
My first time going even a little viral was with 4chan. And it was me doing something altruistic.
If you’ve never heard of 4chan, it’s an anonymous image board forum. It’s popular and known for its low moderation and influence on Internet culture.
The first part of this article, the story, is from my personal marketing journal.
What you will be reading below – I wrote 13 years ago, in 2010, right after it happened.
The second part, the analysis, is from the present day.
The story
- 12/5/10 – Sunday – Boston
- Felt bad for a freshman at my college doing a great, but not-listened-to, video game music radio show at the awful hours of 12-2 AM, Sunday night… so a friend and I used 4chan to make him popular.
- Before we started, the freshman DJ had three listeners: an unattended office computer, his dad, and myself. However, he thought many people were listening. The station didn’t allow DJs to see listener stats so they wouldn’t be demoralized. I had secret access to the live stats.
- My first thread was on the Random (/b/) board of 4chan. It used the whole pity angle. I explained that the DJ had no listeners, thought he had tons of listeners, and was doing an excellent video game music radio show.
- Then, using the same copy I wrote, my friend made threads on the Video Game (/v/) and Music (/mu/) boards.
- We were artificially “bumping” threads at the beginning to keep them at the top of each board. “Bumping” brings a thread back to the top of the board, where it will have the most visibility. Soon after starting, so many people were commenting we no longer had to create artificial engagement.
- People liked the DJ’s story, on-air personality, and content, which is why listeners were sticking and engaging with our threads.
- We kept interest high by constantly updating people with the show’s listener count.
- Eventually, people were creating their own threads. People across 4chan were talking about this as it was unfolding.
- The station servers couldn’t handle the load from the concurrent listeners we brought, which limited how many there were. At 460 concurrent listeners, we set the record for the station.
- The show had listeners from around the world. It was 8 AM in Spain, and people were listening.
- People were complaining that they couldn’t go to sleep until the show ended.
- The DJ was getting inundated by instant messages and had gotten several phone calls.
- The show was doing so well that the DJ kept it going for an extra 2 hours, until 4 AM.
- I went down to the station at 3:30 AM to meet the DJ, whom I hadn’t actually known but just merely felt bad for.
- I got to go on air and say hi to everybody from 4chan.
- The DJ was overjoyed. He was in shock this was happening.
- Stayed up until 5:30 AM, watching people on 4chan talk about the show long after it ended.
- Some things from the weeks after:
- The show got many repeat listeners.
- The DJ got many Facebook friends and even a girlfriend from this.
- This story has been used year after year by the station staff to motivate new DJs. It was even written into the station manual.
The analysis
Here’s why this popped off.
- Bumping. Before our threads had reached critical mass, my friend and I kept them relevant by posting ourselves. If a few minutes went by without there being a comment, my friend and I would make one ourselves.
- Empathy and compassion. I knew people on 4chan would see themselves in the DJ because he had similar interests to their own. Then, by highlighting the low listener count, high amount of work, and late-night hours, I made them feel compassion for somebody like themselves.
- Narrative bias. We’re naturally drawn to stories, especially ones that evoke strong emotions. The tale of an underdog (the DJ) getting unexpected and unprecedented support is a narrative that many wanted to be part of.
- Social proof. The increasing listener count and engagement was validation that this was worthy of people’s time.
- Fear of missing out. As this started to unfold, people were tuning in just so they wouldn’t miss out on a unique, collective experience others were part of.
- 4chan as a platform. 4chan is still a great place to start grassroots movements. This is mostly because:
- It’s anonymous. Anybody can post without registering, and users can express themselves without fear of repercussion.
- Believe it or not, many users like bonding through digitally labor-intensive altruistic acts. Many movements have been started through 4chan, and users are always looking for something exciting to be a part of.
The TL;DR
So the TL;DR of this is:
- We created an opportunity for altruism towards a likable character.
- We moved people with an emotional message.
- We artificially inflated threads until they reached critical mass.
- Finally, we kept updating the crowds to create a sense of momentum and build FOMO.
That’s all! Have you had any success with 4chan marketing like this? Share your stories or questions in the comments below.
