4chan founder Chris Poole quits

The man who founded 4chan over a decade ago has announced plans to leave the site.

The site, users of which were central to the planning and execution of last year’s GamerGate hate campaign, has over its 11 years to date hosted over 2bn posts and delivered over 42bn page views.

Yet throughout that time Poole has remained its only full time employee.

I’ve decided it’s time for me to move on,” Poole wrote. 4chan has faced numerous challenges over the years, including how to continuously satisfy a community of millions, and ensure the site has the human, technical, and financial resources to continue operating.

But the biggest hurdle it’s had to overcome is myself. As 4chan’s sole administrator, decision maker, and keeper of most of its institutional knowledge, I’ve come to represent an uncomfortably large single point of failure.

I’ve spent the past two years working behind the scenes to address these challenges, and to provide 4chan with the foundation it needs to survive me by bolstering its finances, strengthening its infrastructure, and expanding and empowering its team of volunteers. That foundation will now be put to the ultimate test, as today I’m retiring as 4chan’s administrator.”

Poole added in an interview with VentureBeat that he believed the site has done far more good than bad”, adding: For the most part, it’s touched those people in a really positive way. Despite the more unsavory things. When you take it for what it’s worth over its entire run, I think it’s been a powerful and positive force for people.

In 2010 Poole launched a new venture called Canvas. It went out of business last year.