For too long the webring has been influenced by the whims of /tech/ wizards and xenophobia rather than by those who wish to have fun with like-minded individuals. The purpose of imageboards has always been a gathering point for discussion and creation of OC, and yet increasingly we see the webring eroding away as boards find themselves unable to retain users as bad actors continue to abuse the naturally reclusive nature of anon to force those who hold out into tighter-knit communities that continuously eat away at their own userbase in the hopes of maintaining the illusion of an organized state of affairs that simply no longer exists, and shutting up any dissent to this status quo. 8chan is dead. 4chan is controlled by the enemy. The anonymous alternatives outside of the webring are generally cancer, and the deep web and peer-to-peer websites will always be too niche. The old gods of lulz have lead to a warlord-like state that is not conducive to generating discussion, while the bastions of culture and historical precedence we have held up as the new gods of the webring have failed to provide us with a means of retention as they cannibalize their own and grow increasingly corrupt. We talk of fallbacks and archives, and yet in the midst of a new season of anime boards like /animu/ and /a/ are at all-time lows during the cusp of a new season, with core members of the old 8chan stronghold being chased away from even engaging in the webring over technicalities and us-vs-them mentalities. Some even go so far as to violate the essence of the webring at the mere mention of outsiders appearing, while others actively stab their counterparts in the back to hold onto these few users that still hold out for a brighter future.
What do we have to show for our preservation of the old guard? Absolutely nothing. A dying userbase across a scattering of websites where even those who considered themselves defenders of this status quo are unable to come to grips with the reality that they are a dying breed, or who try to stand stoicly in the face of death when they could so easily roll out of the way of the death blow because they lack the courage to face the future head-on. When others notice these things and address the elephant in the room, they are smacked down by their peers like crabs in a bucket, or the /tech/ wizards who lord over their serfs look upon them with disdain and cackle about how they can always start their own imageboard whilst smacking down any attempts by the serfs to rise above their masters with ridicule and scorn, as was seen first-hand by many after the fall of Julay last year when several attempts at a better tomorrow were snuffed out, entirely ignored after pledging technical support, or mocked by the "elite" in charge of the most popular webring websites.
I'm not here to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but I won't play around with formalities and putting on appearances to suck up to the current "heads of state" as they be either. If I thought this was a problem that could be fixed by money I'd be more than willing to throw four figures worth (USD) at the problem, but the only solutions money can buy require time and investments, as well as a willingness on the part of either the acting front-runners of the webring (something they would never agree to given the radically different approach I propose) or third parties that would naturally not be trusted. The fact of the matter is, when an organization of any kind is faced with a looming, imminent death, they have three choices:
1) Surrender.
2) Die like dogs.
3) Adapt.
I propose that it is high time that the webring as we know it adapt if it wishes to see a future that isn't a slow, bleak, death march that can never be recovered from since we are well into this critical juncture. One must adapt, yet we are constantly in fear of adaptation as it brings the unknown, an uncertainty that what we know and love may just disappear. I propose an alternate interpretation based on my personal interactions within and outside the webring as a wandering imageboard nomad:
Your childhood is dead. Everything you know and love has already dissipated into archival obscurity.
Rejoice, for you now have the option to become your own man not tied and bound to the whims of anyone. As the Greek philosophers of the past had reasoned, you have actualized and are not bound by the whims of those who wish to control you. Do not fall for the chaotic memes of many bad actors in this newfound enlightenment. There are those who seek you harm, there are those who seek to control you, and no rules the likes of which many have tried to espouse after becoming drunk off this realization.
I propose a new imageboard, or rather a new paradigm shift. I propose an adaptation that seeks to keep the spirit of anonymity and preserve anon's right to post loli cunny and say nigger without being beholden by the strict xenophobia of the webring or drowning in an ocean of cancerous piss the likes of 4chan. A board that is driven by tbe ideals of an old, forgotten time but that is willing to put the webring's policies where their json file is by being radically different. Rules, but no rulers. I propose a new charter to guide a new imageboard based on the following principles as old as human civilization itself:
1) A clean slate that is not subject to the hearsay, prejudices, and superstitions that stifle the modern webring. An entirely new imageboard that respects the old as a dead civilization while carving out a new existence that recruits by word-of-mouth from 'any and all' websites without prejudice, be they 4chan, Meguca, the webring, the alt-webring, standalone websites, or even social media. Let anons stand on the content of their character and their ability to follow the website's charter and ideals, not on their history. A leviathan that grows both naturally from within and artificially from bad actors who are scoffed and laughed at as everyone else has already pissed on that street corner. A platform that is much like the Ellis Island of America. Civic pride in one's culture without xenophobia, if you will.