/b/

About

/b/ is an image board on 4chan. Being amongst the original boards created for the site, dedicated to be a random board for nearly any type of content, over time the board grew to become inarguably the most infamous 4chan board on both the site itself and outside of it. The board’s users are commonly referred to as /b/tards.

History

/b/^[1] (Random) was the first board created for 4chan.^[2] Being a board in which the focus lies with random content, the board quickly became a common source of spam, trolling, and shitposting. In combination with 4chan’s minimal board rules, pornography and gore threads could also be frequently found on the board.

Board Culture & Reputation

/b/ quickly managed to become the site’s most famous and infamous board. Due to its minimal rules, initally only placing bans on illegal content such as child pornography and requiring its users to be above 18, the board grew to become by far 4chan’s most popular board with over 30% of the site’s traffic in early 2009^[3] out of the 44 image boards at the time. The content found on the board due to its minimal rules resulted often included gore and shock media, gaining the board a reputation of being a place to avoid for outsiders to whom the board is incomprehensible.

Do Not Talk About /b/

The Rules of the Internet is a list of protocols and conventions to serve as a summation of popular catchphrases and axioms commonly associated with 4chan. Since there are numerous drafts and editions in circulation, the rules fluctuate in number and the validity of each rule remains debatable. Despite this, several of the rules are agreed upon across internet communities. These include rule 1 & 2, which both read “Do not talk about /b/.”

Rule 1. Do not talk about /b/.
Rule 2. Do NOT talk about /b/.

GET& Dubs

GET refers to a randomly generated event on 4chan that is noted when a post’s unique ID number consists of rare integer sequences, most notably similar ending numbers. Attempting to get a GET became especially popular on /b/, to the point where users would make a post ending in two similar digits (dubs) or more decide forum game outcomes and even meme status. In early February 2010, the site’s admin, moot, made dubs temporary unavailable due to the spam they caused (shown below).^[4] Over time the option has been reenabled and disabled multiple times.

Milhouse Is Not A Meme

“Milhouse Is Not A Meme” is a paradoxical statement and a well-known debate on the imageboard site 4chan about what makes an internet meme and what doesn’t, using The Simpsons character Milhouse Van Houten as an example. The origin of this phrase dates back to /b/, where user attempts to make Milhouse a meme ricocheted and turned the phrase denying Milhouse’s meme status into a meme.

Queen of /b/

Queen of /b/ is a nickname given by /b/ users to Catie Wayne, who is better known by her online pseudonym Boxxy. First appearing on video in 2009, Boxxy received mixed feedback on /b/, becoming a popular form of trolling and the center of multiple shitstorms on the board.

Pool’s Closed

Pool’s Closed is a catchphrase associated with a series of raids carried out by /b/ on the online social networking site Habbo Hotel in 2006, where members of the group formed human blockades to obstruct the entry points of popular hangouts with their dark-skinned avatars dressed in afros and business suits.

Search Interest

External References