Time poll crowns 4chan founder moot 'most influential person'
North Americans are worrying about swine flu. PC users are worrying about the Conficker virus. And companies promoting democratic Internet polls have to worry about 4chan.
Members of the underground message board appear to have successfully gamed Time's third annual World's Most Influential Person poll. Time has relented and officially crowned the founder of 4chan, who goes by the alias "moot," as the winner.
Time directly addresses the apparent orchestration by 4chan to influence the poll's results in its follow-up article. Moot "handily beat the likes of Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Oprah Winfrey," Time writes. "To put the magnitude of the upset in perspective, it's worth noting that everyone moot beat out actually has a job."
The obvious jab at moot, whose real name is believed to be Christopher Poole, is understandable. Time reports that moot, whom the magazine profiled last summer, had no knowledge of an organized . . .
. . . intervention by 4chan members, despite its documentation by bloggers over the last couple weeks.
Even before moot amassed the 16 million votes he got in his overwhelming victory, some bloggers speculated that 4chan users had not only boosted his rank, but also collectively influenced the order of the first two dozen or so nominees.
Take the first letters of the first names of the top 21, and it spells the phrase "Marble cake, also the Game." Aside from being a delicious pastry, marble cake is apparently the name of the chat room where the website's users have gathered to organize anti-Scientology protests. And the Game is an ongoing psychological experiment played by young people worldwide.
A blog called Music Machinery, clearly reporting outside of its usual niche, has a rather detailed analysis of how 4chan manipulated the poll. This would certainly explain why Anwar Ibrahim, a Malaysian politician, nabbed second place.
The allegedly successful attempt at swaying the poll's results is surely a relief to 4chan users. After their failed try at stealing the Twitter race to a million followers less than two weeks ago, the win for moot proves that 4chan hasn't lost its touch.
Next year, Time should change the name of its poll to the Internet's Most Influential Person.
-- Mark Milian
I can't believe TIME backed down to these nerds. I would've just picked somebody.
Posted by: Jackington | April 27, 2009 at 07:35 PM
THE GAME
Posted by: MOOT | April 27, 2009 at 07:58 PM
TIME JUST LOST THE GAME
Posted by: Mike Litoris | April 27, 2009 at 08:05 PM
The Planet has just been trolled
Posted by: Wh4tth3huh | April 27, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Acctualy when you think about it, he is kinda influential in net atleast, or who else gets peoples to influence some net poll to this degree? He have influence, just no way to control it... ;D
Posted by: Rnd( | April 28, 2009 at 02:49 AM
This a internet poll. so i think Internet's Most Influential Person is right.
Posted by: Ryan | April 28, 2009 at 02:59 AM
lol. trolled.
Posted by: anon | April 28, 2009 at 03:27 AM
It is an internet poll. so Internet's Most Influential Person is right.
Posted by: Ryan | April 28, 2009 at 04:22 AM
"Next year, Time should change the name of its poll to the Internet's Most Influential Person."
This is why you are dying, big media. The Internet IS the world. When are you going to *get* it?
Posted by: fap 2 moot | April 28, 2009 at 07:38 AM
1. you just lost the game
2. Epic win for teh interwebz
Posted by: Anonymous | April 28, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Welcome to the TROLL
Posted by: R Tray | April 28, 2009 at 04:48 PM
Given that he managed to get 19 million people to vote for him, I'd say that's pretty damn influential. Most world militaries aren't anywhere near that large.
Posted by: anon | April 29, 2009 at 01:20 AM
/b/tards may have successfully gamed Time's poll, but with that comes a wave of mainstream media publicity... and whitebread newbies. Welcome to your unintended consequences.
Posted by: Sage | April 29, 2009 at 07:05 AM
Again, the internet poll is an unreliable measure. Even with Captcha, it can be hijacked. Why do them?
Posted by: gerrrg | April 29, 2009 at 07:43 AM
The CIA could make this kid disappear very easily.
Posted by: Alan | April 29, 2009 at 07:50 AM
Umm, I seriously doubt that 19 million people voted for him, they faked the voting.
Posted by: dave | April 29, 2009 at 08:53 AM
Trollz...Still, this does have some merit.
Posted by: sal | April 29, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Given that /b/tards influenced the poll with such spectacular results, I think moot DOES qualify as the most influential person.
So much for Rules 1 & 2, guise.
Posted by: Tripcode | April 29, 2009 at 01:27 PM
Heh, and I thought the cancer would never do anything that gained lulz. I haven't been on /b/ for about 2 years now... and this lulz of the most epicness hath bought a tier to mine eye. Even the Cancer that killed /b/ can do something epic.
Posted by: Borg | April 29, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Well i guess its time to call it the cancer has spread out of /b/ and into the real world. Now what?
Posted by: Ghost | April 29, 2009 at 11:04 PM
I lol'd
Posted by: Tiger Shark | May 01, 2009 at 07:45 PM
TROLLED
Posted by: anon | May 03, 2009 at 03:04 PM
LOL TIME GOT TROLLED
ALSO THE GAME
Posted by: anon | May 30, 2009 at 09:11 AM
I am 12 years old and what is this?
Posted by: Johnny | June 11, 2009 at 03:01 PM
"The Internet IS the world. When are you going to *get* it?"
Until your computer is shut off then you will have to live in the REAL WORLD. Further proof that online polls, debates, games, competitions, etc. are a bunch of easily manipulated BS.
There is no truth until you know what is REALLY happening on the other side of your computer screen.
Posted by: REALITY | August 24, 2009 at 02:20 PM