oh internet

Rules of the Internet refers to a somewhat unwritten, often changing set of rules assumed to be true or necessary. This incarnation comes from 4chan. Click the image to enlarge this version of the rules.

Summary

Rules of the Internet refers to a set of rules where very few are set. Rules #1, #2, #14, #34, #35, and #63 are usually the same from set to set.

Rule 1 is "Do not talk about 4chan", Rule 2 is "Do NOT talk about 4chan", a reference to the 1999 movie, Fight Club.

Rule 14 states "Do not argue with trolls - It means they win" and Rule 34 reads "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions" These rules are probably the most the universally recognized ones, as people with even little knowledge of Internet culture often knowns about these phrases in one form or another, even if they do not know there is such a thing as "rules".

Rule 35 often goes along with Rule 34, usually kicking in when an exception to the latter occurs: "If the porn does not exist, then it will be made". Rule 63 states that "For every given male character, there is a female version of that character", an phenomenon that usually happens in fan art.

Origins

The Rules of the Internet were first posted on 4chan circa 2006, and may be based in part on The Rules of Usenet. No two sets of rules are identical. This is likely due to many /b/tards changing the rules as they pleased. According to Moot, the rules were variously invented by The Man or Gaia.

Current status

Most of the rules are largely forgotten. If 4chan is mentioned in an outside website or medium, someone will be quick to say "rules 1 and 2", which is code for "quit talking about 4chan". Some claim these rules only apply to raids so 4chan won't get any heat for them.

Rule 34 has outgrown the rules of the internet meme. Every kids show, celebrity, and even inanimate objects can expect multiple versions of NSFW images. These are known to ruin childhoods. Finding the most unusual or obscure Rule 34 is often used as a contest of sorts on some websites.

The unofficial Rules of the Internet website, rulesoftheinternet.com currently redirects to a picture of a penis piercing.

Images

Alternate set of rules	Rule 9	Reminder	Rule 41
Rule 54 (also known as Rule 63)	Simple reference chart	Rule 68	Rule 61
Rule 41	Rule 41	Rule 36.gif Rule 36 [NSFW]	Rule 35
Rule 27	Rule 20

Videos

Related Pages

Rule 34

Rule 63

Rules 1 and 2

External Links

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