Unlike reddit, 4chan is not a popularity contest. There are no likes or upvotes that dictate what you see; everyone in a thread sees the same content. Furthermore, there are no persistent identities, so you have no way of gauging the value of someone's post other than by examining its content. I think this dynamic is what made 4chan such a creative force: the only way for a post to "live" longer than one thread was to make it memetic, remixable, broadly applicable.
What I really like about 4chan nowadays is the pace. When a new episode of my favorite show is out, or when the Super Bowl is on, or when a presidential candidate says something stupid, I know there will be a thread about it. At times, it's almost like we're all in the same room together. Having browsed for 7 years now, it really does feel like home to me.
> What I really like about 4chan nowadays is the pace.
I think the pace varies from board to board, and can appeal to people and their particular tastes at the time. Using myself as an example: today I enjoy /wg/'s backgrounds and eye-candy setups, but not /b/. A decade ago, I ignored anything not /b/.
There's nothing wrong with that, but I do think the notoriety of /b/ makes people stay away from the other boards.
I don't think the lack of upvotes means there isn't still a popularity contest going on. There is still a lot of posting done just to try to get as big of a reaction as possible out of people. Some people even talk about their activity on 4chan through other side-channels, like IRC or even in-person. People brag about their exploits to other people. It may not have a number attached to it, but it's really nothing but a popularity contest.
Well, for some people everything is a popularity contest. Reddit includes an interface for popularity contests whereas 4chan is popularity contest agnostic.
What I really like about 4chan nowadays is the pace. When a new episode of my favorite show is out, or when the Super Bowl is on, or when a presidential candidate says something stupid, I know there will be a thread about it. At times, it's almost like we're all in the same room together. Having browsed for 7 years now, it really does feel like home to me.