 The number of Friendship Is Magic posts drew attention on the site . Fans of the show defended it against various trolling attacks from other 4chan boards , leading to a temporary ban on the discussion of anything related to ponies . Christopher Poole , the founder of 4chan , briefly acknowledged the popularity of the show on the site at the 2011 South by Southwest festival . Poole has since created a dedicated board for discussion of the show and its fandom . Though the discussion of the show continued at 4chan , fans created other venues to discuss it , and the fandom spread to other Internet forums . 
