I'd say something like 4chan is virtual cancer, but it would still glorify it in the eyes of some. The fact is the more we talk about how terrible it is the more people will want to experience it their selves. Admittedly, I even thought of heading there after reading through this thread and I have a pretty good idea of what I'd be signing on to (It's been a long while...). The masochist in us wants to see the headless child, wants it to burden our conscious. The primitive side of us likes the idea of being unrestrained, so some seek it out as a haven. Take it from a former anarchist turned socialist: the chaos that 4chan perpetuates isn't chaos at all, there is no noble purpose served; no balancing of the scale. It is just shit. Just shit, nothing else. Funny image, horrific image it doesn't matter. There is no true substance. A moment wasted there is nothing more than a lesson in futility and the deafening of all that is humane.
I'm not quite anti-4chan however, from a sociological stand point it serves a purpose. My personal stance on it is this: Let the fire rage. Let it galvanize all that are susceptible to it's aim and let it draw them in completely. 4chan is in a way a type of (un)natural selection. How many of these dirge are breeding back into society? The idea is almost humorous to me.
4chan and sites like it are the swan song of a sub-culture with no heirs.