Just ramble about this and that.

Haven't you had any interesting experience recently
or haven't you read anything impressive article in a
newspaper or a book?
Anyhow what's on your mind now?
Talking to yourself is also OK. 
 

I see there's a lot of discussion regarding world4ch's lack of members when compared to 2chan. So here's my two cents on the subject.

It's important to remember that most American and European users that are drawn to world4ch are drawn to it both through its association with 4chan and by an interest in Japanese culture or products, primarily anime. Even though there are plenty of other boards that have nothing to do with these, it's pretty safe to assume the grand majority have some sort of interest in anime or manga. That's part of what has created an interest in a Japanese message board system to begin with.

However, though anime and such have been gaining popularity in the United States, it's still very much a minority subculture. When you further divide the pool of anime fans down into those who are also computer geeks, the number of potential users becomes even smaller.

Furthermore, the atmosphere 4chan creates through /b/'s omnipresent control over its "culture" can be rather hostile. Not many people are willing to help a new user understand the board system, and potentially offensive behavior (such as the frequency the n-word is used) may repel less thick-skinned users that would otherwise have been interested in participating. As previously mentioned, since 4chan and world4ch's user bases overlap, much of that atmosphere is brought over here. This restrains the user pool of world4ch even more.

What's more likely to happen, and more interesting in my opinion, is the eventual spread of the Shiichan message board system. Even those who are uninterested with the subjects here at world4ch may see the virtues of an Anonymous, registration-free forum. And since the program is free to download, the spread of the system would be relatively easy. The recent security flaws exploited in phbb can also be a motivating factor, just as spyware has motivated many IE users to adopt alternative browsers.

It's possible that new sites using Shiichan might also link back to world4ch as an example of the system or the source of the program, which would lead to an influx of new members here. But I'm not holding my breath. The spread of a new technology is a gradual progress.

Basically, just think of world4ch as a western colony in the world of Anonymous BBSes. It probably will never reach the size or prestige of 2chan, but it may help the spread of the technology. Of course, 2channeller interest in the project also helps it grow :)

It'd be interesting to visit 2chan and see more of what users think about world4ch, but I have a learning disability that makes it difficult to learn new languages. I've tried learning Japanese, but it has't been very successful. :( So I applaud the efforts of 2channellers breaking the language barrier and migrating over here.