Doing anything besides imageboards is better than letting yourself stagnate in their mire of bitter contrarian echochambers.

I do admit they're useful to spread propaganda and new forms of media that wouldn't normally reach your average internet user, but at this point we're all fairly well connected and influenced by their culture regardless of the sites we use, they inevitably leak upstream and downstream to other sites or vice versa from their supposed rival sites.

I still do like the dark humour that can't be found anywhere else. The lack of status associated to an account is one of the reasons why I enjoy them, so it levels the playing field and breeds a crab bucket mentality if anyone tries to make a name for their avatar. But it's an endless cycle of users seeking out short winded arguments that lead nowhere. A lot of users are frightened to be perceived as wrong or stupid, so they posture themselves as informed individuals to avoid the quick onslaught of shitposts, thus retarding and ultimately stagnating any board.

If there's a real life counterpart, I'd like to know but pubs, universities, third spaces, carry more social consequences with those who dare speak their mind or inadvertently offend anyone with a harmless or derogatory joke.