Google’s ‘moot’ point: Tech giant hires 'underground Zuckerberg’ to boost social

Google has hired the creator 4chan, of one the internet’s most notorious forums, to try to inject life into its flagging Google+ service. Chris Poole, aka “moot”, has been hired for an as yet unspecified role but will be under Bradley Horowitz, Google’s VP of streams, photos, and sharing. Reports claim that Poole will use his 4chan experience to assist with communities on the ailing social network, Google+. Additionally, he could also help build social-sharing functions for Google Photos, which was successfully spun off as a standalone product from Google+ last year.

When meeting with current and former Googlers, I continually find myself drawn to their intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm - as well as a universal desire to share it with others.

Chris Poole, blogging on Tumblr

Poole, often described as the online “underground Zuckerberg”, launched 4chan from his bedroom in 2003 and within a decade had built a substantial user base of some 85m monthly visits. It has gone on to be closely associated with offensive and often illegal activity, including instances where the images of child abuse were shared. It was widely credited as being the first place where leaked images of nude celebrities were posted following 2014’s well-publicised security breach affecting Apple’s iCloud service.

Chris Poole