Chanosphere

The Chanosphere is a ruby.

A chart made to showcase the chanosphere.

The Chanosphere (also known as the *chans or the Chanverse by Bibliotheca Anonoma) is a term meant to encompass all more or less anonymous imageboard websites, starting with 2channel. Occasionally, textboards and wikis are also included in the Chanosphere. The Soysphere is considered to be a subsection of the Chanosphere, and, along with the 8chan-adjacent free speech absolutist imageboards, it currently constitutes the only major subcultural movement still relevant activity-wise (this, however, does not mean all relevance is lost if we are talking about other subspheres). The Chanverse is an immense rabbit hole, and reliable information regarding the Chanosphere is sparse and sometimes contradictory.

Subspheres of the Chanosphere

The sheer amount of websites involved means we need a way to consistently organize most *chans in subcategories. This does not affect single-website cultural movements (e.g. Shrekchan, Wojchan, Otterchan and Mlpol).

	Name (official or otherwise)	Representative imageboards, wikis, textboards etc.	Adjacent websites/factions	Era/Time Period during which subsphere was/is relevant
1	First wave of English-speaking imageboards	world2ch, 4chan.net, 1chan, Burichan, 5chan, iiChan, Gurochan	Something Awful, Raspberry Heaven, 2channel, 2chan (Japanese-speaking IBs)	Originalfag era (June 1st, 2003: foundation of world2ch - June 20th, 2004: fourth death of 4chan)
2	First wave of textboards (taking inspiration from Ayashii Warudo)	4-ch.net, etherchan, (recently) Angeleno's world2ch and Heyuri	world2ch	Textboard era (Late 2004: 4-ch.net founded - present day, revival courtesy of newfag LARPers)
3	Idlechan Federation	iiChan, Wakachan and about a dozen forgotten imageboards	-	Mootxico era; the Idlechan Federation was little more than an alliance between the administration of iiChan and Wakachan (at that time, 4chan was experiencing its fourth death)
4	The camgirl subsphere	AnonIB, the LURKMORE collective (textchan, intern3ts, tranchan and male general)	LURKMORE wiki, both the Russian and the English versions	The Camwhore Era (late 2000s - present day, as the lurkmore collective still exists; ends on 4chan the very moment /soc/ is created as a containment board) Did You Know: textchan has a copypasta board called /cp/?
5	The Lulzsphere	7chan, 711chan, (partially) 420chan, Raidchan (IRC-only website), 78chan, 99chan, 315chan, Krautchan, 888chan, 808chan, Encyclopedia Dramatica	Anonymous (a faction which will splinter during and after Project Chanology)	The Lulz era (August 23, 2006: /b/-day - March 2023, 711chan is defeated by soyjak.party) August 21st, 2008: Chanocalypse happens, Lulz era reaches its peak.
6	First pedophile wave	not4chan, 12chan, AnonTalk, (partly) 7chan and old4chon	Darknet 'p websites	October 31, 2004: /l/ is moved to not4chan - January 2010, 12chan is (most likely) partyV&
7	/int/osphere	Dvach, Krautchan, Vichan, Britchan, HUEchan, Hispachan, (recently) Kohlchan, 1500chan	-	May 1st, 2007: foundation of Krautchan - present day
8	Shitpostsphere (or funpostsphere)	United Chans Federation (GETchan, Ponychan, Dubschan, efchan, Equestriachan, Funchan, Oniichan. MLPchan, Lupchan) 4chan's [s4s] and 8chan's /intl/, /leftypol/ Bunkerchan, now known as Leftypol United Chans wiki	Leftybooru NOTE: initially, communist thought was not a core tenet of the Funpostsphere, however Bunkerchan heavily infuenced the UCF during the late 2010s. [s4s] and /intl/ are not affiliated with leftypol or the leftybooru.	November 6th, 2011: GETchan's foundation - present day, courtesy of Leftypol
9	Pre-/pol/ right wingers and incels	nu4chon, Wizardchan, 4chan's old /r9k/ and /new/	-	May 1, 2009: nu4chon, which has little to no relation to old4chon, is founded - August 2015, Wizchan is raided by 8chan's /cow/, and thus a generation of chuds is replaced by another
10	Culture War Generation	4chan's /pol/, 8chan	Heckin' bigoted nazi networks, according to mainstream media	December 6, 2013: beginning of GamerGate (started by Wizardchan) - March 15, 2019: Brenton Tarrant's mass shooting
11	Norulescucksphere	8kun, 8choe, 8pl, 9chan, Endchan, (partially) Sleepychan	NOTE: all of these websites follow 8chan's blueprint, so to speak, which is why in most of them users can create their own boards	October 2013: 8chan is founded - present day
12	Tier I Soysphere	4chan's /qa/, soyjak.party, Big 'Ki, Schlog, Shroom	SoyBooru, SPVA, Reddit colonies, 'cords and 'grams, Shiwi	Soyfag era (December 30th, 2017: first soyjak created by the Swede - present day)
13	Tier II Soysphere	The Jarty, The Big Three (The Swinny, The Shemmy, The Chinny), The Kuzzy, The Sidty, The Zarty, SNCApedia	Orbiters such as Edgecore members, as well as the Jassy (which WNBA Soysphere site) RoachBooru, SWAbooru	July 18th, 2022: anti-kuzist website jakparty.soy appears - present day August 14th-22nd, 2023: Soypocalypse and First Splintered Age Second Splintered Age: ?
14	Tier III Soysphere (splinters made during Quote's ownership)	The Sneedy, The Gitty, The Chaddy, The Sloppy, The Sboardy	Various boorus	Quotist era (May 9, 2025: Quote steps up as the fifth admin of soyjak.party - present day)
15	Oldfag revival websites	Angeleno's world2ch, Heyuri, Mootxico, 22chan	Heyuri Historical Society	Late 2010s - present day
16	"Underground" *chans	Lainchan, Uboachan, modern Desuchan, Wapchan, Kissu moe	NOTE: I chose to put more somewhat unrelated *chans into one category since they all give off a similar feel. Intended to be /comfy/ and center around niche topics.	Since the beginning of IBs - present day
Last, and certainly least...	Edgecoresphere	Clarty, 67chan, Dwinny, (partially) Chinny etc.	Skibidi Farms, Fella Farms, Labubu Farms, TFD Forums, 764 'cords	November 2nd, 2022: Clarty is founded - present day Late 2023 - January 24th, 2024 (SF is fedded due to Antioch High School shooting): peak of Edgecore era

Notable Wikis

Here are some very helpful websites that document the culture and events across various *chans:

This very wiki

Especially when it comes to Soysphere splinters or, occasionally, SNCA *chans.

Encyclopedia Dramatica

This was the go-to website back in the day when *chan users wanted to record their history - it is more strict against SNCA imageboards or namefags however. (You) cannot make an account unless you contact their staff. Due to its constant correlation with the *chans, it is considered by some to be part of the chanosphere, at least honorarily.

Soyjak Wiki

Despite their censorship campaigns, their "Happenings" page can come in very handy when it comes to learning about soyjak.party history.

Nameless Rumia's personal wiki

Has excellent articles on various BBS websites, especially on obscure japanese/chinese ones. It is also full of citations.

Bibliotheca Anonoma

By far the most useful source. Contains information not only about the chanosphere, but also about many other websites, such as Something Awful. Its role is to preserve Internet folk life.

BonziPEDIA

the now shut down official wiki for the now shut down Bonziworld.org. had many useful articles about obscure larp clans and BonziWORLD-trollbox-OWOT-sleepycat related drama along with many smaller SNCA discord dramas and has been archived in its entirety on the wayback machine. (you WILL rearchive these to megalodon or ghostarchive NQW)

Decline

The Chanosphere is currently in a dire state due to Edgecore members, Metachan, the Jassy^{(doe it's dnb)}, advertisers and other failtrolls constantly spamming CP, an increasingly dull PPH on all websites and due to a general loss of interest for imageboards (also caused by the generational shift from millennials to gen Z). The negative reception it receives from the outside internet (especially from (((Wikipedia))) and (((YouTube)))) does not make the situation any better.