The Anatomy of a 4chan Hoax

When the 4chan imageboard community helped make #cutforbieber a trending topic on Twitter and the subject of more than a half dozen news stories Monday, the world collectively gasped at the thought of Justin Bieber fans cutting themselves in response to a photo of the teenage heartthrob smoking marijuana. Yet underneath the shock and awe, 4chan's first prank of the year was about more than just cheap laughs.

Since its inception nine years ago, 4chan has become known as the Internet's sketchy male outhouse -- a place where people can make crude jokes, show one another their penises, share their porn collections and shock one another with gory photos, all under the guise of anonymity.

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