birds of a feather fly together, least that was the case for me.
the only thing i don't fall in line with is my dislike for techno/electrica/house or whatever the heck you call it music and mmorpgs.
other than that my disdain for 3d ,love of 2d, weird fetishes and whatnot were already present in me before I encountered these communities, which is why I gravitated toward them.
before I encountered imageboards I would go to some anime/manga oriented websites, I really just felt out of place.

No.
For example, despite my repeated attempts, I still don't like anime, manga, VNs, the Japanese language, and much of the things you like. I didn't give up on my life either.
What keeps me on certain imageboards is the intelligent people I can relate too, and that I'm vaguely interested in anime-style art.

No, I don't feel this way. I come here because I enjoy the company of people I can understand, and who can understand me. My tastes and habits don't line up perfectly with everyone else's. For example, I don't usually like moe anime series, and I do go like to go outside sometimes. But I've always been painfully asocial and I've always been into stuff like jrpgs and some anime/manga series at least. Being on old /a/ and /jp/ definitely influenced my tastes and introduced me to new things, but I never felt I had to force it.

My dislike of real people is just that, real, I dislike being out around them and find it very uncomfortable, not something I just say to fit in, I really do want to be alone.
Also don't care about "sunny days" much, I much prefer everything about the night time, it's almost a magical feeling being out at 4am, it's just a little inconvenient is all because of everything being closed/shutdown, price one pays I guess for having the streets to yourself.
Music I don't know, there a bit of variety in music around here I think.
I like shojo anime because, I like it, I find it enjoyable watching innocent and nice shows about cute girls, not necessarily because it's popular in japan, Everyone else losing interest in hemi-chen after 5 ep didn't make me enjoy it any less, just for example.
I'm not obsessed with dfc either, I just find over sized chest sizes to be an eye sore, almost ugly if you will, but don't care much about the variations in size bellow that.
Seems like everyone around here seems nuts about jrpgs and pc gaming, but I'm still a console gamer.

I act almost exactly the same as when I came in. The only changes I made are ones that just happened; I didn't force them.

Not really. Maybe /jp/ has made me a bit more elitist, but I've always been the asshole type on forums arguing with everybody. But I don't believe all the truNEET and 3DPD stuff, and I like loli because of dem body proportions (though I don't restrict myself to just loli).

In person I'm completely different (kind, polite, smile a lot, etc). For some reason whenever I go online I turn into an ass.

Do you feel like you've been conditioned to act the way you do, that the western culture makes you act the way you do?

On this culture there exists a specific mentality, unwritten rules of words you should or shouldn't say, of thoughts you should or shouldn't have, of behaviours you should or shouldn't follow. You follow them because you want to be part of a group or a community, even if at the start you didn't agree with some of those rules. Or you follow them because they just happened to fit into your current mindset and/or depression.

You will go clubbing that's what young people do instead of reading and educating yourself. You will shun any kind of alien sexual preference you encounter because that's what normal and healthy young people do, even if it's your best friends or parents. You will listen to that kind of music, instead of this one, because that's what some dudes on radio or in MTV listen to. You will watch this particular kind of TV because that's what everyone else watches. You will like alcohol and sports because that's the norm.

Just making a point that it's all interchangeable and arbitrary; completely normal human behaviour, in good and in bad. Some obviously are affected more than others by certain factors, but, in theory, you can reduce people's attitudes and thoughts to their governing influences. Something was never created out of nothing.

I am more likely to give stuff a chance if I see people on TC talking about it, but ultimately not more likely to actually enjoy it.

I suppose you could say I'm being semi-consciously "conditioned" in the sense that I'm reinforcing my natural unsocial and slacker tendencies by coming to a forum where being that way is normal and mostly accepted.

Not really, I was a certain way before going on /jp/ or /tc/ and I'm still that way. If anything I was just attracted to certain places more due to common mindset and interest (though admittedly I still feel completely out of place no matter where I am).

Actually, I don't even understand why someone would feign interest in these things. Or would choose to seclude themselves just because they thought it was "cool" (or why they would even see it as cool to begin with). I can understand trying out things you've seen posted since it might interest you (like listening to a song you've never heard, or trying out a new manga), but I can't see someone ignoring their current interests and completely replacing them with something else (lest they had no real interests to begin with). Being solitary isn't exactly a wonderful experience for anyone that isn't introvert to begin with, so I once again don't understand how someone would "pretend" to be reclusive, or push themselves to be reclusive if they didn't *want* to be reclusive. Or are you saying that they'd be outside more if they had more social influences? Even people with social influences and no knowledge of these things are pretty reclusive. People may post a certain way as to not disrupt the community culture or post a certain way because they see it as an "in-joke", but I don't see how someone would revolve their interests and lifestyles around what a few people on the internet have said. There isn't anyone else around them in real life to encourage this behaviour. Just text on a screen. That text means little unless you're totally alone in real life to begin with. I think there would have to be at least SOME common ground to begin with. I really do doubt a normal, healthy person would completely change themselves into a shut-in otaku/weeaboo just because of something they read on /jp/ which made them decide they wanted to "fit in".

Heck, it's the internet, you can pretend to be whatever you want to be. And people often do that. Fitting in on the internet is pretty easy and has nothing to do with what you're actually interested in or what real activities you partake in. Are you sure you're not just being fooled by a posters internet persona? You have no way to verify how they are in real life or what they truly enjoy.

Then again I don't know many people, so my perception is probably bias. Have you ever actually met someone who *only* does what an imageboard tells them to because they want to fit into said imageboard and don't care about real life? Or do you, OP, do only what an imageboard tells you? I'm now sort of curious to meet such a person. You'd have to be all kinds of broken to do everything in your power to fit into a single imageboard culture thus disregard everything else in life. Such a person would be even more fucked up than a regular shut-in.

>>3751
I know people who quit their job/actively refuse to get one for the sole purpose of being able to call themselves a neet.

>>3751
You have a point but I think sometimes this persona spills over to the 3D world because you spend so much time playing it. I used to go out and ride my bike but I don't this any more, I try to avoid going outside as much as possible, that would be an example.

I've never been to /jp/ and I dont know anything about touhou
Real girls dont bother me at all but I'm not interested in them
I always choose what anime I watch and I was a shutin of my own volition before I knew what a chan was

I wish people weren't so elitist, insular and paranoid about it all

Post edited on 7th May 2011, 4:20pm

I was like this before I came here.
I've never really watched that much anime, but I've always disliked people in general, felt happier in my own world, ect.
This place was full of people like me, so I come here often and enjoy it.

I act however the hell I want to act, no matter where I am. Nothing has "conditioned" me to think in a certain mentality. It just so happens that /jp/, and /tc/ to a lesser extent, mesh with my horrid personality.

Of course, your environment always has an effect on your behavior. What matters is if you can step back and decide if you really agree with those things you've been conditioned to think. I do with some and don't with others. No matter how many people constantly try to berate me for it, I will never like certain types of shows etc...

>>3734
In a way, you could say that. But I disagree with a lot of *chan culture. I disagree with the 'supress your powerlevel' bullshit that goes on (thats mainly /a/ thankfully). I disagree with racist insults, etc etc - though that's mainly shit that comes on other boards - mainly /b/.

>>You will stay at home because that's what hikkis do instead of going out on a sunny day.

Well...I do go out on a sunny day. I prefer nights, esp during summer - it feels good to bike in Chicago's core late at night for example.

>>You will shun any kind of 3D because that's what depressive and reclusive nip otakus do, even your best friends or parents.

>>You will listen to that kind of music, instead of this one, because that's what some dudes on those boards or in Japan listen to.

I'm heavily influenced by J-Pop and J-Core yes, but before then I was exposed to Black and White American electronic music (House, Trance, etc) and European stuff (Gabber, Euro, etc)

>>You will watch this particular kind of anime because that's what everyone else watches.

Nope. I dont see what's with Lucky Star and the only Haruhi ep I watched was the one with the space battle as I love space battles so I have to watch it.

>>You will like loli and DFC because that's the norm.

I like loli partially out a backlash against society's suppression of those attractions, honestly Ive dropped out of loli mainly but I still have the shit on my HD - encrypted. In related news, I was really involved in pro-pedo debating in the past and know some pedos.

>>Same goes with video games, etc.

not a lot. The newest console I have is a Gamecube, im mainly a comp gamer - and I play DDR which I dont think mainly people do here.

As other people said, it's not that they conformed to the board - they found a board that looked to fit them. That's how you see people who go and wander from forum to forum over their lives as they change themselves. E.g. 3 years ago I was a raving /b/tard. Now, I rarely go there now.

There are cases of people working hard to 'conform' to a board if they're too different from the board. Sometimes they acclimate to it, sometimes they don't and it causes a lot of distress.

No. I don't conform to the True NEET stereotype even though I'm still far from normal.

its easy to form an inaccurate picture of what a community is like when everyone is posting anonymously. e.g. I like sports and rap music but those things are not often discussed here.

but I still think the answer for most people is probably "yes", even if they wont admit it.

I don't think so. I'm quite shunned socially, but I don't fit the stereotype. For outsiders I look like a poor hipster. The few friends that I do have see me as a weirdo that could become a communist guerrilla as easily as a rich banker. This place was most likely catalytic, just speeding up the process that made me this failure.

The replies in this thread suggests that the 'stereotype' is actually really rare, and that the stereotype is actually just a collective overlap of the various interests us types might have.

I don't think so. If I'm understanding correctly, if say..- "hikkis" were suddenly able to go outside and live a normal life; i'd still remain an shut-in.

On women, I've always been agnostic about women. I maintain there's probably good ones out there, I'm just too shit-brained to find them and our culture has largely diluted the lot to the point I don't even want to bother. I'm realistic about my own appeal as well.

I've always gone against the grain as far as my anime tastes go it seems. At least on tobo, feel good moe anime is accepted. There's just no place for it on 4chon without massive trolling.

Please don't make me think about 3d bitches and whores.

I wasn't conditioned at all. I'm just used to seeing some things and it just happened that I don't like what others here don't like, that's all. I don't like to divulge about my past history too much.

The only thing imageboards did was introduce me to new fetishes and generally made me into more of a pervert. I've always been an antisocial paranoid shut in (aside from school, until I graduated) who loves cute things and doesn't care for 3D

I think that visiting these places has brought out the traits I have that I used to repress. For example, I remember some time during high school, I asked my close friend something along the lines of "do you like 2D drawn girls or real girls better?" He acted like it was a stupid question and told me that real girls are obviously better. Deep down, I liked 2D girls, but I told him that I agreed with him. Later in my life when I discovered that there are people like me, I started being more honest with myself.
I am much more of a loser now.

I just admitted that I liked crossdressing, was suicidally depressed and had fantasies of being a little girl on a different small *chan.

I got banned, my ban message was "stop trolling".

Well at least I'll always be understood by you guys.

>>4032

Second. I used to try very hard to be normal (back when I was in high school). The thing is, I was not so I didn't really work out well. I surpressed a lot of things (mostly weird fetishes) in order to fit in and feel more normal in general.

As for OP's questions - yes, I certianly do feel that way. It obviously influences my interests by exposing me to some media all the time. But as >>3749 said, ultimately I think I'm not more likely to enjoy them, just more likely to try them.

I can't tell how far imageboard culture changed my viewpoint and my interests but I'm 100% positive it did to some extent. As >>3783 said it defnitely influenced my fetishes. Other than that it's somewhat hard to tell. I know I also didn't like shoujo-esque stuff back in the day and now I like it. That's certainly something that the imageboard culture changed, I don't think I would take interest in them out of my own accord.

But I'm not trying to fit in. It happens on it's own I'd say. There are still many things that distinguish me from the stereotypical /jp/ otaku (/jp/ otaku as in powerlevel hiding one), for example my taste in music. I like lots of country-esque musicians. I really like Holly Golightly and some of Carpenters; old songs. I also enjoy watching sports on TV and actively follow some. No matter how much some people despise sports (I can see why so I don't really mind) it won't change the fact that I simply like them.

MMO's pretty much killed my social life long before I knew about hikki culture. That was also when I got into anime and hentai . I had a good friend who shared my interests though mainstream stuff like DBZ, FFVII, etc. in middle school, then high school came around we ended up in different schools, though we would still keep in touch and on weekends we'd play vidya and talk about anime and stuff. Then through sophomore year we started growing more and more distant, then he started smoking weed and made new friends, we've pretty much cut all ties since then and I just haven't ever been able to make friends since.

I do have a degree of social anxiety, as I spent my high school years sleeping during lunch and free periods because that was just about the only thing I could do to pass the time (back then I couldn't bring myself to read manga or play video games in public because I was too paranoid about being ridiculed for still liking "those weird Japanese cartoons") and as I've always been a quiet person I never really talked to anyone unless I had to, and that was usually with teachers.

I'm not completely socially inept however, as I can still converse with people on a mostly normal level. I'm also not completely revulsed by 3D women, I've just never had an interest in persuing women like most "normal" people seem to. I'm usually never attracted to the kind of women most people deem attractive, not to mention I've met some insufferable people in my time. I'd never have a "real" relationship due to my own insecuities and general lack of interest.

I am currently studying to become a programmer, which is an ideal career for me as most of the time I'll just be minding myself and only occasionally have to talk to other people, which isn't a huge deal since I can come across as a pretty normal person when I need to; one would just think I'm a quiet eccentric programmer, let alone a /tc/ regular.

I didn't really get the whole waifu thing until I started reading Lucky Star and instantly connected with Konata (though that's another story for another board). I find loli endearing for the cuteness factor and as I said I don't really care for the average "sexy" type of women (and I'm probably a closet pedo in some deep, horrible corner of my mind). I despise anything that depicts lolis being abused or hurt and I couldn't imagine doing anything like that to a real girl.

My interests in music are probably the most varied of any person you'll find. I enjoy anything from heavy metal to classical to electronica and just about everything except country or crappy mainstream sellout music, as well as the usual vocaloids, jpop/rock and video game music.

I don't really have suicidal thoughts or depression since even though things were rough for a few years, I don't think I could be any happier with my life than I am right now. I don't get lonely as long as I have my waifu and this great online community. I'm doing what I have a passion for without regarding other people's opinions and I'll be able to live on my own once I finish college and start making a decent living.

>>3734
>Do you feel like you've been conditioned to act the way you do, that the culture of /jp/ and /tc/ makes you act the way you do?

>been here since #waifu

IRREVERSIBLY.

Wrote a long, boring thing, before I realized I can just say "no".

I mean, I can count the anime/manga series I'm following on one hand. I have a shitty, 70 GB computer, I don't mind sunny days that much (I'm inclined to take walks every once in a while, actually - mostly at night, though), my music taste is diverse enough (not even a huge fan of J-pop or anything like that), I'm not that big on DFC. I never even really browsed /jp/. Once or twice, maybe. I will say, the culture of /tc/ influenced me in quite a few ways (you guys actually roused me out of my apathy enough to at least pick up Steins;Gate), but some parts of me, I just can't change, no matter how depressed I get.

I responded before, but now that I think about I can definitely see how some people have been conditioned to act certain ways. I remember a while back I saw this lass who was whining that she was so lonely and had NO FRIENDS, and was acting like the typical ronery fujoshi. However, upon finding her blogs I saw that she had over 30 real friends that she talks to on a regular basis, among other things. I just get the feeling she was just conditioned to act like that, when in reality she was just a hipster. I really can't stand those types of people.

Post edited on 18th May 2011, 10:38pm

I have almost nothing in common with the folks here or in /jp/. I just do what I want, and it's mostly a coincidence that we share similar behavior.

No, if anything I find that these boards have made me change my hikki/NEET ways.

I experience a lot of the Hikki/NEET lifestyle before any of the english chans were created. I would go off an on about whether or not I enjoyed the life style and a lot of times it changes based on bouts of depression. Eventually though I found my way to the chan communities and would visit them off and on based on my mood and current interests. Eventually though /jp/ was created and eventually developed the Hikki/NEET stereotype lifestyle. Sometimes it really connected but in the long run it made me reflect on my own experiences and how much I actually hated it. In fact it made me realize how lucky I was to have a group of friends that shared and tolerated my hobbies and didn't judge me. It also made me realize how pitiful I was, and that I was just being a leech on society and my family.

As for hating 3DPD, loving 2D, and being a lolicon/DFC lover, these were all things I have known about myself since I was younger and, again before any english chan site was made. I just didn't know how in depth they could be, or that it was considered a bad thing by the social norm until it came up on the chan sites.

I do feel I was attracted to these imageboard sites because of my interests and how a lot of people shared similar mindset and even similar experiences. But it hasn't conditioned my into these things. I also don't try and create a hikki/NEET or false persona online, though I do exaggerate things some times, but I do this IRL too.

I feel more like I learned how to appreciate DFC and loli and be less judgmental about people who don't go out.

I might have adopted all of these habits more completely than some of the individuals I learned them from though.

I've always liked weeaboo shit, way long before finding /a/ and making my way over to /jp/ when the split happened.

I don't hate 3D, I'm just apathetic towards it and I've been this way for the majority of my life. Of course I love 2D. I've also been an introvert with barely any friends since kindergarten.

I like sunny days, but instead of going outside I like to open up the blinds so a lot of sunshine can come in my room.

I think the majority of us were this way from the beginning. Similar people somehow just find their way to each other, even if they're losers.