by Nomad
If you've ever asked yourself how on earth we could have gotten ourselves in such a pathetic political situation, Netflix currently has a documentary you might find interesting.
“The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem” charts the downward spiral from 4Chan to QAnon, from Rickrolling memes to the January Capitol insurrection, and from the vigilante Anonymous band of hackers to the Donald Trump brand of treason.
This connect-the-dots exercise suggests a highjacking of something that began as a rather silly and juvenile timewaster and morphed into an authoritarian political movement whose members would believe literally anything and follow its leaders any place.
That (at least, according to the documentary creators) all began with 4Chan.
Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, music, history, anime, fitness, politics, and sports, among others. Registration is not available and users typically post anonymously.
While members felt that online anonymity offered free expression, others outside that community saw it as a tool for an autocratic ideology.
As one member of the 4Chan notes:
“All of us who had built the culture started seeing our work being used by people we literally despised…”Alas, only in hindsight.
Yet, those of us who were paying attention, those who recalled the history of the 20th century watched it play out like a shabby remake of a stomach-turning melodrama.
Here's the trailer for this documentary. Give it a watch if you have Netflix
