2channel

Overview

2channel (or 2ch) is a Japanese forum created by college student Hiroyuki Nishimura launched in 1999.  2ch utilizes anonymity, meaning that there is most users of the site prefer to remain unknown.  The reasoning behind this is that when users are allowed to remain anonymous, there is no fear of backlash and users will make honest opinions about topics.  A "username" field does exist, but is usually ignored.  Use of a name, unless the user is an admin or moderator, is considered to be either a new user who doesn't understand the forums or someone seeking to be an internet celebrity  The forum is largely unmoderated, except for spam or flood posts (which could fall under Japan's anti-slander laws) or posts that signal criminal intent.

             Hiroyuki Nishimura

2channel is by far the most popluar non-business related site in Japan.  The forums are completely free, however users can opt for

2ch Characters

The user base of 2ch is responsible for the creation of many different characters, mostly in the form of Shift-JIS (a Japanese form of ASCII) art.

Flash

One of the most popular forms of user-generated content is that of animations using Macromedia (Adobe) Flash.

American Spin-offs

The popularity of the Japanese fourms has spilled over into the English-speaking internet community in the form of 4ch, an English language forum modeled after 2ch's style.  Similarly, 4chan-BBS (not to be confused with the image board 4chan).

Links

2ch.net - The 2channel site (Japanese)

4-ch.net - The 4channel site (English)