This whole "4chan is vile and horrible" thing is getting old. 4chan is not /b/, and vice versa. There are a lot of boards on 4chan that are perfectly normal, with no gore threads/porn/etc.
Aren't most of those boards invaded pretty regularly?
Also, some of the boards are full of people who can be described as insane- despite not having porn/gore/etc. For example, /g/. I don't agree that it's inaccurate to say 4chan is vile in general, and I certainly agree with the sentiment that 4chan is the best and worst of the internet- or at least the social part of the internet.
/x/ (paranormal) is pretty bad lately. The problem with /x/ is inconsistency. It seems to happen in bursts. A rare really good thread tends to inspire more good threads for a while, you get few days to a week of good content.
I realize mods on 4chan is a touchy subject, but /x/ could use a good mod that deleted excessively repetitive threads. there are some boards where that's not such a big deal, and some boards that thrive on repetitive and troll threads (I'm thinking of 4chan's pressure release valve, /pol/). But /x/ would be better served by having a mod conscientious of, not so much curating good content or killing trolls, but deleting the EXTREMELY repetitive threads that inevitably go nowhere.
Also, it is a matter of opinion if the roleplayers are a problem. I would argue that the lazy, bad roleplayers are the problem. I think they add color when they're good. Part of the excitement of /x/ is that it exists on the fuzzy periphery between fact and fiction.
But why would I go out of my way to visit a place that has that stuff on it in the first place? So I can be associated with sociopaths? I'll pass and get my content elsewhere.
What do you mean by "place"? And why would you be associated with people on the boards you don't visit? (Also basically everyone on those boards are anonymous so you won't have an identity to "associate".)
Sure, but I still don't understand your reason. Do you avoid using Google because there's disturbing content on it? or Wikipedia because sociopaths also visit it? or Netflix because it's hosted on the same platform as a bunch of malware? or bittorrent because it's used for copyright infringement?
Why are you avoiding parts of 4chan because you don't like other parts?
I don't think you're catching my drift so I'll just come out and say it - I don't want to be tracked by my government going to a site that is a known gathering spot for criminals and juveniles just so I can see some silly pictures, thereby associating myself with criminals and juveniles. Now we can split hairs about whether that's true but perception is reality. So let's just end it here - I won't visit 4chan and it's not a big deal.
You can access 4chan through Tor, now. It used to be blocked, but now only blocks posting.
Additionally, there is an HTTPSEverywhere definition (you have to specially get it from their website) that forces all the 4chan content through SSL to prevent snooping by exit nodes.
Download and place the file in the HTTPSEverywhereUserRules/ subdirectory in your Firefox profile directory. In Tor Browser bundle, the location for your profile is: {wherever you installed tbb}/Data/profile
When you're in TBB, navigate to http://4chan.org. If it doesn't switch to https automatically, then click the HTTPSEverywhere icon up in the corner, and make sure the 4chan.org rule is checked. Page should refresh, you should see that it is now https.
