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Watch this: 4Chan's Chris Poole on the transformation of online culture

Watch this: 4Chan's Chris Poole on the transformation of online culture

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4Chan founder Chris Poole hosted a solo panel at this year's ROFLCon, discussing the way internet culture has changed in recent years, and how the ubiquity of the social web has changed our emotional investment in online communities.

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Christopher Poole at ROFLCON panel
Christopher Poole at ROFLCON panel

When we visited ROFLCon this year, it was clear that memes — once the province of select internet denizens — have become mainstream entertainment in their own right. 4Chan founder Christopher Poole hosted a solo panel at the conference, where he discussed the way online culture has evolved in recent years. Contrasting the forum-driven years of the web, when one would have to purposefully seek out online communities that matched their interests, to the modern "social" internet, where the semblance of an instant community is just a mouse click away, it's a fascinating discussion on what we've lost and what we've gained. PopSpot has posted Poole's panel in its entirety, with the complete convention line-up coming shortly. Check them out below.