>did this thing that changes your utility function affect you positively?
Tough question. I think it did. Thanks to imageboards I learned to express myself honestly and without embarrassment when I choose to. This is not a skill that I had naturally. I used to censor myself and rely on a public persona too much. It was a big part of how I learned to recognize when I was acting against my values out of peer pressure. I think imageboards do help you with the things anons most often say they do: developing a thicker skin, honing your sense of humor, learning to ignore idiots.

On the other hand, imageboards are a massive time sink. They have diminishing returns on hours invested, but not until you reach several hours per day. The mainstream ones move too quickly to check and reply to every so often. Like most Internet communities, they deteriorate over time and 4chan is pretty far gone now. Imageboards are also bad at some topics. You seldom see the equivalent of a 300 title otaku on /sci/ or /g/. I guess high-level people with those interests don't have the time for it and would rather attach their knowledge to their brand for career's sake.

>>5101
>I the only one that wishes 4chan would die ?
No. People talk about it on 4chan itself and places like >>>/irc/ here. If 4chan died, it would create an oldfag diaspora while dispersing the perma-newfags. I predict I will reduce my use of 4chan by at least 80% within two years. I am looking for good replacements to give part of that time to.