I like this paper from Bernstein et al., because it depicts with a few number the power of 4chan, e.g.:

• A post on /b/ lasts only five seconds on the first page, and dies in about five minutes.
• Longest-lived observed post lasted about six hours (was it epic?).
• 400,000 posts per day.
• 43% of posts get no reply.
• 90% of posts are made by anonymous.

Have a look also at the slides and remember: 4chan is not your private army (and /gif/ is not for the faint of heart )