2channel

2channel (2ちゃんねる, ni channeru, 2ch for short) is a Japanese textboard. In 2007, 2.5 million posts were made every day. Launched in 1999, it has gained significant influence in Japanese society, comparable to that of traditional mass media such as television, radio, and magazines. During 2008 the site generated an annual revenue upwards of ¥100 million for its founder Hiroyuki Nishimura. The website was previously operated under Packet Monster Inc., a company based in Chinatown, Singapore, between 2009 and 2014. It has been described as "Japan’s most popular online community, with around ten million users accessing it each day."

The name "2channel" is allegedly a reference to how RF modulators, commonly used for connecting earlier-generation game consoles to television sets, default to VHF channel 2 in Japan.

History

2ch was opened on 30 May 1999 in a college apartment in Conway, Arkansas on the campus of University of Central Arkansas by Hiroyuki Nishimura, known simply as "Hiroyuki" (博之/ひろゆき). At the time, 2channel served as the successor to an earlier anonymous textboard known as Ayashii World. Since 2channel's servers were located in the United States, the website enjoyed a greater degree of immunity to legal action from within Japan, in comparison to its predecessors.