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Google Ups Its Social Media Game by Hiring 4Chan's Poole

Google has hired the founder of controversial website 4chan to help rejuvenate its social media strategy.
4chan is famous for spawning memes such as Rick-rolling, where online users are redirected to a video of Rick Astley's hit song 'Never Gonna Give you Up.'
4chan is famous for spawning memes such as Rick-rolling, where online users are redirected to a video of Rick Astley's hit song 'Never Gonna Give you Up.'
/ Source: CNBC.com
By David Reid, CNBC

According to his own website, he founded 4chan when he was just 15 years old.

The community website, 4chan, is famous for spawning memes such as Rick-rolling where online users are redirected to a video of Rick Astley's hit song 'Never Gonna Give you Up' .

The 4chan website claims to have 22 million users a day.

However the site has also been criticized for hosting pornographic imagery and in 2014 was used by hackers leaking naked pictures of high profile women, including actress Jennifer Lawrence.

In January 2015, Poole retired from running 4chan and subsequently sold the site to Japanese social media expert, Hiroyuki Nishimura, for an undisclosed fee.

David Reid, CNBC

David Reid writes for CNBC.com. He previously worked as a Television Producer on CNBC International's Squawk Box Europe, European Closing Bell and Worldwide Exchange. He has also led the production of special shows such as Decision Time. Prior to arriving in London, David was a business reporter for Radio New Zealand. He graduated from the University of Bath with a Masters in Business. A lifelong fan of Hibernian FC.