The Antisocial Network

Finally someone took the time to address this more or less properly.

So... Is it perfect? No.

But at least it tries to tackle the absurdity of the times we live in.

Going much further than other documentaries or books in unveiling some of the people that spawned the whole toxic internet trend - albeit leaving aside the vast influence of a certain current belligerent super power - it gives a simple, but credible, history lesson on why we are in the current political situation.

And no, I'm absolutely not talking just about the USA.

What happened there is ground zero for other 'experiences' that are starting to materialize in other countries (they even mention what happened in early 2000's with 2Chan) and that continue to occur in our age of misinformation.

The simple fact that some people are so desperate (and plainly stupid) as to be able to believe these pranksters should be enough to make us stop and meditate about what being online really means.

Just one more thing: this is a documentary and my rating is not based on the formal quality of the film.

This is a presentation of part of an important story.

A story that should be dissected and investigated much, much further. That said, as first efforts go this is a 5 in terms of usefulness and overall importance.

I found this documentary interesting. I was never into 4chan myself, but I remember when it started and got big and I had a few friends who used to be there. I learned a lot in this documentary. For example, I didn't know that Anonymous originated in 2003 on 4chan. I learned more about January 6th with the attack on Capitol, the evolution of memes, Qanon, maga, etc.

It was also interesting to see these hackers being interviewed. They are not very likeable people most of them. It is also so very crazy that people are so easily fooled by what they read on the internet and that they believe it fully. Someone says something on the internet, and it can turn into a very large real movement/demonstration. It's crazy how stupid people are, but also very interesting.

The internet's influence on culture, politics and media is ubiquitous. But who influences the internet? This documentary answers that question - or starts to - by focusing on the rise of 4chan, the anonymous imageboard website that served as a surrogate online community for grassroots activists and agitators on both the left and right. This documentary exposes (perhaps unintentionally) the harrowing fact that the 4chan community was full of the most wretched, hateful and inadequate people you're ever likely to encounter. If you met any of this documentary's interviewees in person you would dismiss them as pathetic crackpots or worse and you would promptly ignore them. But ensconced in the anonymity of a signal-boosting online echo chamber they were able to exercise a grossly outsized influence on the 2010s. The internet (supposedly a means of democratizing discourse by giving a globe-spanning voice to virtually anyone) has actually given the loudest and most prominent voices to cabals of unaccountable weirdos who spend all their time on the internet.

Informative and enlightening documentation!

For people like me, who have only been able to delve deeper into the world of the Internet after a long period of family responsibilities, documentaries of this kind are helpful in understanding what has actually happened over the past two decades. The effects of the developments described in the film are visible to everyone in everyday and professional life. I didn't really like the excessive rush of images, but I admit that it fits the protagonists and their actions quite well.

The global streaming service NETFLIX certainly does educational work with such films. We should also remember the documentary about the CYBERBUNKER in the small German town of Traben-Trabach.

The question remains what to do now with the knowledge gained. The troll armies around the world remain active and have long been taking care of the next generation.

But it managed to be educational and present its thesis quite well. The thesis is that the infamous 4chan led to such social movements as OccupyWallstreet, Anonymous, Gamergate, and the rise of Donald Trump and finally, to January 6th. It showed how these groups morphed together and separated. It shows very clearly how the alt-right latched onto meme culture and tried to hijack the political discourse. I was never on 4chan, but remember seeing their productions out in the wild. It's a cautionary tale about two things, the first about how just because you create something, that does not mean you can control it as the creator of 4chan discovered, and the second is never to underestimate the stupidity of the masses. They will beieve anything as long as its in a visual form with some white text.