Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

I need some help researching this kind of thread that has appeared on several forums over the years. Can anyone help?

I've seen examples on 4chan, Gaia, and other forums. Some examples are:
"Ask a Black Guy Anything"
"Ask an Asian Anything"
"Ask an oldfag anything"

…You get the idea

I've heard of it, but I have no info.

Well, I'd really like to make an entry on it, but I'm having trouble finding much about it other than what a common "Ask X Anything" is like.

This seems like a tricky thing to find, as I primarily see this on 4chan (who doesn't keep records (disregarding 4chanarchives, which you should look at to see if there are any of those threads that were archived)).

Otherwise, to show proof, I'd look for blogs on the web (a long shot) or just look for threads on 4chan and screenshot them.

As for when threads about ask a X anything started, that'll be the large problem. If you can narrow it down to year, it would be a start.

God, I really am bad at helping, I'm just restating problems.

Anyway, if I find anything helpful, I'll report back here.

You should ask a revolutionary economic-fascist pro-military industrial complex imperialist anything instead of asking anyone else's opinions.

I’ve heard of it, but I have no info..
.
http://www.iapptester.com

I've heard of it, I have info. n_n
I go to /b/ everyday

If you have info, Morgun, please, I dunno, share it with me?

I can offer a bit of hindsight on this but I can't find the links I collected.
Yeah, I too was interested in searching for that kinds of "Ask a X anything" threads popping up everywhere, not only on imageboards.
But I stumbled upon some info about a TV show (I can't find the name again) existing since a long time and doing the same thing as "Ask a X anything" by inviting a guy doing a specific job each time and letting people asking questions about it.

Because of it, I gave up researching because of a possible mainstream/TV show influence.
But if you are willing to make an entry, I would be more than glad to help.

I'm not sure if this topic is related at all to the Reddit page IAMA (I Am A…), as they have a lot of AMA (Ask Me Anything) threads that occur on a daily basis. It may be a place to research while creating this entry.

You are going to be very hard-pressed to find origin information on this topic as uncensored talk-shows and the like have been around for years on end. That would be my idea of an origin, if that helps at all in documenting this.

@Tonberry: I believe you are thinking about "The Sunday Night Project", pretty much the Brittish version of SNL, which ran on Brittish airwaves starting in 2005. It was part of the show and the segment was called "Ask Me Anything", and the questions were always directed at the guest host.
While this may have increased the accounts of the "Ask X Anything" threads, I do not think that it is the origin or even the main influence of this meme considering that these types of threads have been around as long as general discussion forums have.

Made the thread. I'm still researching. If you find anything, I'd greatly appreciate it.

More help needed, folks.

I don't always lurk 4chan, but when I do, there is an ask X anything thread.

Case in point: http://boards.4chan.org/b/res/272542770