Are there any message boards out there where there are no assigned moderators, and the rules and enforcement of the rules are done by general consensus?
Isn’t that the idea of 4chan /b/?
I don’t know-I have never 4channed. Is that how it is run?
There must be plenty of unmoderated Usenet groups, judging by the spam.
It sounds like a portal straight to the last level of hell.
The moderating is what makes this place work (both that done by mods and by the people of the land, the common clay of the new West, you know… posters).
No. Despite how anarchic it seems, /b/ has a moderation staff distinct from the userbase, and it’s possible to get banned.
Usenet is the only anarchic system which comes to mind, where the only way to get banned most of the time is by being killfiled, which is something like the Ignore List around here: It just means a specific user is now ignoring you, with no larger repercussions on how much you can participate in the forum. The exception is if you’re really, truly obnoxious, like spambot obnoxious or posting illegal material obnoxious, in which case you risk your ISP cutting you off. (And possibly legal action being initiated against you, depending on how big of an asshole you were.)
I should clarify that moderated Usenet newsgroups are even more strictly moderated than here, because all posts have to be emailed to a moderation queue, and approved individually. I’ve never known a web-based forum to work like that, although some bloggers do run their comment sections that way.
Sometimes, this leads to the group becoming a digest, where all of the posts get collated and placed into a single document available for download. The RISKS Digest (comp.risks on Usenet) has run that way for thirty years now.
[quote=“Derleth, post:7, topic:819748”]
I should clarify that moderated Usenet newsgroups are even more strictly moderated than here, because all posts have to be emailed to a moderation queue, and approved individually. I’ve never known a web-based forum to work like that, although some bloggers do run their comment sections that way.
/QUOTE]
When Tapatalk took over Invision boards, it went to all post approved by the admin. Plus hellacious spam.
I once read that 4chan tried a board with absolutely no moderation and it was immediately taken over by white supremacists.
Well, to be fair, that’s what they do. 
Don’t they, like, have JOBS or anything?
(That excuse has been used more than once, if you think about it.)
Hermitian: Beautiful combination of UID and picture.
This comes to mind:
Yes, based on your description, I think I know of one. I’m not willing to post the name of it, so this may be wasted typing, but yes, it exists, at least in how I interpret your question.
They do take out spam and prohibit flooding. But other than that, there is no enforcement of rules. It’s not related to the Doperverse at all.
They don’t ban people or have prohibited topics, except for illegal things based on US law.