imageboard

See also: Imageboard

English

Alternative forms

• image board

Etymology

image +‎ board

Noun

imageboard (plural imageboards)

1. (Internet) A type of message board that revolves around the posting of images, with optional associated text, often characterized by the near lack of moderation and by the freedom to discuss any topic.

   Synonym: chan

   • 2014, Jessica L. Beyer, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

     An imageboard is a type of posting board centered around the posting of images. A very famous imageboard is 4chan.org.

   • 2018, Barney Warf, The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet, SAGE, →ISBN:

     The concept for Anonymous began when American-run imageboard 4chan, a website created in 2003 for sharing images with accompanying comments, followed in the footsteps of the Japanese imageboard 2channel by allowing an anti-signup system where comment posters could remain anonymous.

Usage notes

• While the name only suggests that pictures are attached to posts, the term conjures up the meaning of somewhat of a Wild West place where anything goes.
• The term enjoyed a surge of mainstream popularity during the 2014 celebrity nude photo leak on the 4chan imageboard.

Translations

type of internet forum

• Finnish: kuvalauta (fi)
• German: Imageboard (de) n
• Japanese: 画像掲示板 (gazō keijiban)
• Portuguese: imageboard m, chan (pt) m
• Russian: имиджбо́рд (ru) m (imidžbórd), имиджбо́рда (ru) f (imidžbórda)

Further reading

• imageboard on Wikipedia.Wikipedia