I didn't even hear about 4chan until 2006 or 2007. In my little corner of the web it was perceived as a place where the dangerous, the degenerate, and the mentally ill hung out, so I stayed away until ~2010, when my curiosity finally got the better of me. While every bit of its rep was well-earned, there were unexpected side-benefits to lurking there, so I stayed. Around 2017 I started looking for a new online home as it became readily apparent that new management was even scummier than m00t had ever thought about being and that quality was beginning to suffer as a result. I finally stopped going altogether in 2019, due to the site split absolutely destroying what was left of the old userbase.
I can count on one hand the number of times I've visited since.