Internet Influences 6/6: Internet and Anonymous Pride

This weekend, I attended Anime Central aka ACen, as I usually do this time of year. The definition from the website is as follows:

What is ACen?

Anime Central (ACen) is Chicago’s and the Midwest’s largest anime, manga and Japanese popular culture convention. The convention is currently held in Rosemont, IL, less than 30 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Since I've been going to DePaul, I've attended this event with the DePaul group called the Japanese Media Appreciation Club. Together, we enjoy sharing our love of all types of digital media, both foreign and domestic, in the extreme. For three days, we spend all our money on media merchandise, take pictures of or dress up in costumes, meet voice actors, directors, artists of all types of media, and just generally enjoy the company of similarly minded people, as I explained in my other convention post.

One thing I noticed at the convention this year was the overabundance of internet pride. Much of it from the website http://www.4chan.org. The most notable was the abundance of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks like the picture above. Not only were people wearing it, the convention itself was selling it, promoting the pride. These masks represent Anonymous, a group that came from an internet meme started on the website 4chan. 4chan defines Anonymous in its FAQ section on the website:

Who is "Anonymous"?
"Anonymous" is the name assigned to a poster who does not enter text in to the [Name] field. Anonymous is not a single person, but rather, represents the collective whole of 4chan. He is a god amongst men. Anonymous invented the moon, assassinated former President David Palmer, and is also harder than the hardest metal known to man: diamond. His power level is rumored to be over nine thousand. He currently resides with his auntie and uncle in a town called Bel-Air (however, he is West Philadelphia born and raised). He does not forgive.

Even this description, meant to answer a question for newcomers, is laden with memes from 4chan that would be unrecognizable to those unfamiliar with the site. This website can be a very exclusive place on the internet and is infamous for its cruel and unrelenting users.

Since the website 4chan was originally derived from a Japanese website called 2chan, it makes sense that many of the people at this Japanese anime convention know of it. Still, in the early days of anime conventions the event was more about the art of anime and manga and Japanese traditional culture instead of internet and general nerd culture. Once again the internet has changed the way we do things. Although this website is in fact connected to Japanese culture, I am not sure it is something that should be so proudly celebrated. I know and use this website myself, so it is not that I am completely against it. As an otaku or nerd, I realize this site has become a part of our culture. My problem is that anime conventions to me had always been a place where people can be free to be themselves and not feel judged for their interests that are often seen as abnormal by the masses. I had always thought of it as an event of acceptance, but now the event is promoting this extremely unaccepting and often hateful website. But there is no stopping the force of media and how it can change a culture.