CW: slurs in the data.
Markers
As I discovered while writing the previous post, there are more kinds of identity dispute than I had previously thought, and so far I’ve located them by grepping through the data for tropes which are likely to be received with skepticism, for example “I’m not gay but …” (which appears frequently on /hm/, a gay pornography board), or more generally “I’m X but Y”, and then looking for common patterns in responses. I’ve stumbled upon a few repeated cues that lead to disputes of the form that I’m investigating, as well as a few specific tactics used to express a disputation.
I should note that each component of these disputes can be taken as sincere/mocking/lighthearted, depending on the context, which complicates the process of describing them in concrete terms. Further, this applied to every aspect of 4chan’s pragmatics. Rather than using ‘dispute’ to indicate any presence or lack of sincerity, I think it’s best to just take the forms at face value and discuss the relative sincerity as a separate thought.
Ventriloquial <t.>
Origins
Originally, “t.” is short for Finnish ‘terveisin’ or ‘toivoo’, used for informal signatures in writing — equivalent to “signed, …” or “with regards, …”. On 4chan it is commonly used to cite experience relating to a previous opinion. For instance, on /pol/:
/pol/, 354061136, Anonymous:
(opinion:)
>>354057927 a Arc from something like that would not get close to killing you,
it would burn your fingers up a bit though.
(citation:)
>t. electrician
Or in this thread on /3/ discussing 3D animation, where it is used in different comments to cite the same background for completely opposing opinions:
/3/, 867102, Anonymous (OP): This is disney maya quality elite 3D animation.
Blender bros cant compete.
...
/3/, 868212, Anonymous:
>>867671
animating is not a *fun* job. t. animator
...
/3/, 868711, Anonymous:
>>868212
Its fun if you enjoy suffering
t. animator
...
/3/, 869042, Anonymous:
>>868212
animating is a fun job. t. animator
Ventriloquism
In this context, I use ventriloquism to mean when a person uses the ‘voice’ of another; rather than executing this through speech, on 4chan users employ ventriloquism through greentext (prepending “>” to a message to signify it is a quote), as seen in the previous article. Generally, it is employed to mock or elaborate on the implied statement of another post. A ventriloquial <t.> is then a usage of <t.> in such a context as to create an accusation, by proposing an identity or otherwise saying something ‘in the voice’ of the OP. Conveniently, these can be matched by a straightforward regex ( >>\w+ +>?t\. ), since >>\w+ matches a reply code. If a reply is immediately followed by t. or >t., the situation can almost certainly be resolved as a ventriloquy.
fit, 64933557, Anonymous (OP):
ITT1In This Thread: we post how we look in clothes and what size we wear
I pretty much always wear M, try to find slim fits
fit, 64933572, Anonymous,
>>64933557
>size M
Isn't it embarassing shopping for clothes in the kids section?
...
fit, 64945683, Anonymous,
>>64933572
t.American
fit, 64953572, Anonymous,
>>64933572
500 pounds obese Americans be like
In the above excerpt from /fit/, the fitness board, the first post suggests the topic, and the first reply makes a jab at the first post’s “Size M”, suggesting that the OP is small ("Isn't it embarassing shopping for clothes in the kids section?"). The next reply uses a ventriloquial <t.> to accuse 64933572 of being an American, implying that Americans are large, as subsequent replies agree.
“If you’re … , why … ?”
Conditionals followed by a question are also used to rhetorically highlight discrepancies in other messages, as we saw previously:
co, 128126152, Anonymous: . >>128125699 . If you're not gay why are you following a fursuiting degenerate?
“Found the …” / “… detected”
a, 232283050, Anonymous, Is this manga worth reading if I'm a male (straight)
a, 232283066, Anonymous,
>>232283050
>male (straight)
Fag detected
These expressions are used alongside replies to perform an accusation. They imply that the user has been tipped off to something in the OP — that OP has shown part of who they are, perhaps via a shibboleth that the replier recognizes. In the above example, since 4chan assumes a straight male neutral, it’s possible the reply to OP sees (straight) as redundant and marked, and therefore as inauthentic. Alternatively, the reply may just be doing it for the meme, since mentioning being straight is likely to be followed by an accusation of being gay or a ‘fag/faggot’ anyway, whether or not that is earnestly of concern. It’s possible the OP is even instigating the jab.
b, 869566730, Anonymous: bidenbros... starting to seriously regret voting for him. Anyone else feel the same? just want to know im not alone b, 869567927, Anonymous: . >>869566730 . The DNC needs to be dismantled. It's unironically more corrupt than the RNC. . [ETC. ETC.] b, 869572035, Anonymous: . >>869567927 . >It's unironically more corrupt than the RNC. . Only white supremacists think this. b, 869572614, Anonymous: . >>869572035 . Only ignorant leftists who can’t win arguments call people white supremacists b, 869572706, Anonymous: . >>869572614 . found the white supremacist
In the above example, “Found the” is used instead of “detected”.
“Your Larp”
LARP is an acronym for “Live Action Role-Play”, characterized for example by meetings in which players dress up in costumes and simulate a fantasy scenario not unlike Dungeons and Dragons. However, it carries a stigma as a recreational activity, and it is this stigma that makes it an apt index to weaponize against perceived imposters, as it both highlights the perceived inauthenticity of the target and belittles them.
In the following thread on /v/, a videogames board, Anonymous has ‘added’ several people on Steam, a gaming platform, under the pretense of sending them free games. Our excerpt begins with suspicions about Anonymous‘s behavior before they are quickly ridiculed in several different replies. Many posts are omitted.
1 from /v/ thread no. 583405881 2 ... ... ... 3 v, 583411320, Anonymous, 4 . >anon sends me a friend request 5 . >accept it 6 . >doesn't send any gifts, I don't mind 7 . >doesn't send any messages 8 . >doesn't do anything 9 . w-what do I do? 10 11 v, 583411394, Anonymous, 12 . >>583411320 13 . same happened to me, im just happy to have more steam frens 14 15 v, 583411404, Anonymous, 16 . >>583411320 17 . I'm stalking your profile for information on you so i can do something further 19 20 v, 583411743, Anonymous, 21 . >>583411320 22 . I got this too. Should I be worried? 23 25 v, 583411840, Anonymous, 26 . >>583411743 27 . yes i added a bunch of you and now im collecting as much data as possible alot of you have your real name in your emails/log in so im taking that then all the shit you said in these begging threads and sending it to your friends on facebook/instagram 28 . Have a happy new year 29 32 v, 583412208, Anonymous, 33 . >>583411840 34 . >friends 35 . >facebook 36 . >instagram 37 . well I guess I'm excluded from the fun as I have none of these 40 41 v, 583412398, Anonymous, 42 . >>583412208 43 . Nambla profile it is no worries anon i have gifts for everyone the if youre not social well thats the perfect chance for me to step into your shoes and fix that with the name i got+ cross referencing it with your location data to find a year book to find everyone you ever knew and let them know how much you love small boys and joe biden ill make sure to really play up how political youve gotten and how much of a MAP2"Minor Attracted Person" -- pedophile youve become 44 46 v, 583412560, Anonymous, 47 . >>583412398 48 . actual larp 49 50 v, 583412492, Anonymous, 51 . >>583412398 52 . >I am ze scary hacker man 53 . >We are Anonymous 54 55 v, 583413890, Anonymous, 56 . >>583413821 57 . Im just playing the best game of all which is looking into you all and seeing what i can find i hope you enjoy the gift you paid for it in full 58 59 v, 583413926, Anonymous, 60 . >>583413890 61 . larp 62 63 v, 583413986, Anonymous, 64 . >>583413926 65 . keep telling yourself that anon might want to google yourself in a few days have a happy new year 66 67 v, 583414010, Anonymous, 68 . >>583413986 69 . larp 70 71 v, 583414170, Anonymous, 72 . >>583413986 73 . Your larp fell hard with this dude you “added” 74 . >>583412951 75 76 ... ... ...
In the above excerpt, the red Anon responds to the suspicion by egging it on several times, first on line 17: "I'm stalking your profile" and 27: "yes i added a bunch of you and now im collecting as much data as possible" — but Anon seems to go over the top on lines 41-43, attempting to intimidate (or ironically play with) the rest of the users, who quickly turn on him, on lines 50-53 with ventriloquism :">I am ze scary hacker man / >We are Anonymous", and in four separate messages using "larp" to make a collective refutation of the Anon‘s performance. In this thread, our Anon sub-OP continues to reiterate their nefarious intentions (65: "keep telling yourself that [it's a larp] anon"), while others continue to refute — this is the optional negotiation stage I mentioned in the previous post! During this stage, the object of the dispute attempts to gain back credibility. In this case, the Anons aren’t necessarily discussing the identity of the red anon, but certainly their authenticity as a threat.
Examples of “… believe your larp …” appear in reference to outlandish (seemingly manufactured) greentext stories and especially grandiose self-description, highlighting not only the perceived delusions of the object of the dispute, but also an apparent sense of malintent, as below. The following is in response to a lengthy story about incest:
b, 869619395, Anonymous,
>>869619258
Why are you so desperate to have someone believe your larp
We see this token employed again against another OP, who has started a thread, with the first post dedicated to constructing himself as highly intelligent, outgoing, and wealthy, but burdened by these attributes. One user makes a reference to reddit.com, and the next summarily refutes the ‘intelligence’ component of the OP’s self-construction, citing evidence in the OP:
b, 869706867, Anonymous (OP): . Hey /b/ I have a problem . My iq is in the 99.99th percentile of high intelligence. . If you put me in a room with 999 other people, one of them *might* be smarter than me. . I can party, go to bars, be friendly, I have lots of friends, I've had lovers and girlfriends, and hang out with people all the time, and deal with the public. . I'm well to do, with a sizeable net worth. . But I am lonely. I have to dumb everything down for everyone I meet. . And when it comes to lonliness... . I don't know what to do. . What would you do in my situation? . Unfortunately the post cap statistically implies that no replies will be from someone of my intellectual echelon, but I still value your input. . Hit me. b, 869706941, Anonymous, . >>869706867 . Reddit.com b, 869710643, Anonymous, . >>869706867 . If you are so damn smart, why did you type the following: . >My iq is in the 99.99th percentile of high intelligence . The last three words should have been cut out because all of intelligences on the one scale. You don't have 99.99 percentile of High Intelligence, you have 99.99 percentile intelligence. You seem to not understand sentence structure very well or the IQ scale. I don't believe your larp
These last two posts bring up additional markers that I’ll talk about in the next post — specifically, the form “if A, why B?” as a way to highlight discrepancies in the OP’s identity construction, and invoking another social media site, especially in the form “go back to reddit/tumblr/twitter”.
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