4chan founder on highs and lows of running the controversial website — mashable.com

After announcing his plans to step down from 4chan, the online community he founded 11 years earlier, Christopher Poole spent much of Wednesday morning lounging around his home before going out to grab a cheap slice of pizza. "This is probably one of the least fancy meals one can have after retiring from a 10-year job," Poole said on the phone. "My can of seltzer and dollar pizza." The simple celebration, if one can call it that, highlights the contradiction at the heart of the 4chan story. Poole created the site as a hobby when he was just 15, inspired by similar image-focused discussion boards. Eleven years later, 4chan has had more than one billion visitors and consistently amasses 20 million monthly uniques and no shortage of controversies from the offensive posts from its community.

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