{{April Fools}}{{lowercase title}}'''kaj''' was a [[Scratcher|user]] who made claims about destroying [[Scratch]] in an attempt to get more [[view]]s. Although kaj is no longer on the website, they are often blamed for so-called "[[hacking]]" into other users' accounts, though whether they actually did so was never confirmed. This user has arguably gone down as one of the most notable users among the Scratch community, and is considered to be "Scratch's boogeyman".

== History ==
kaj was a regular user on the Scratch Website who joined in [[Timeline#2008|2008]]<ref>"<code>{"joined":"2008-07-29T19:44:13.000Z"}</code>" https://api.scratch.mit.edu/users/kaj</ref> and was said to be from the United States.<ref>"<code>"country":"United States"</code>" https://api.scratch.mit.edu/users/kaj/</ref> Originally, kaj had no intention of causing harm. However, kaj developed a desire for more views on the [[project]]s they had created. After a while, kaj got extremely annoyed about not getting more views<ref>[[projects:1602339]]</ref> and created a project that threatened to destroy Scratch. After repeatedly breaking the [[Community Guidelines]], kaj was [[ban]]ned from the Scratch Website by the [[Scratch Team]]. When someone who claimed to be kaj contacted the Scratch Team (with decent evidence), they used male pronouns, instead of female ones, which were used in old comments.<ref>Lightnin. (30/6/2011). "Well, I don't know if Kaj is a she anymore. Someone contacted us a while back to say they were Kaj, but they used the male pronoun." [[projects:1602339/#comments-7998658]]
</ref>

== Misconceptions, Impersonations, and Conspiracies ==
{{see also|List of Misconceptions about Scratch#Kaj}}
Some users put the word ''kaj'' in their username to scare other Scratchers. These users often leave comments threatening to hack other Scratchers and destroy Scratch. However, the real kaj never stole or hacked any accounts. The people who do this are just fearmongering and trying to get [[Fame|popular]] in a way where other Scratchers fear them.{{cn|date=June 2019}} However, [[Scratch Team]] member cheddargirl had stated that any account who has both a username and profile picture referencing kaj, with the exception of names, or if it's not trying to fake kaj, will be deleted.<ref>[[post:5031514]]</ref> Additionally, new accounts cannot have a username containing "kaj" {{-}} it will be rejected when attempting to create the account.<!-- no citation needed - test it yourself -->

One such example includes a user who impersonated Kaj and went after the "In The Air" studio, a past SDS. The user was removed immediately.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

== KajTheModerator ==
[[File:Rage icon.png|thumb|right|KajTheMod&shy;erator's [[User Icon|user icon]].]]
{{see also|April Fools' Day}}
On [[April Fools' Day#2011|April Fools' Day 2011]], KajTheModerator appeared on the [[Scratch Discussion Forums|Scratch Forums]]. KajTheModerator was an April Fools' prank and not the real kaj; this account was controlled by Scratch Team member Paddle2See. On April 15, [[Timeline#2011|2011]], KajTheModerator [[Retired Community Moderator|"retired"]].

{{quote|KajTheModerator has reported that he wants to spend more time with his family and has retired from the Scratch moderation team. We'll all miss him dearly.|fullmoon, Retired Community Moderator<ref>[[ar-post:729218]]</ref>}}
KajTheModerator made a comeback on April Fools' Day 2012 but has not returned since.

[[File:KajTheModerator Rank.PNG|thumb|KajTheModerator had no rank.]]
KajTheModerator has more meaning to it than being a simple prank for the laughs and fun. Around the time when KajTheModerator arrived, many users would try to scare people and threaten to hack by creating accounts named with "kaj" somewhere. Paddle2See created KajTheModerator to "poke fun at the people using the 'kaj' mantle to troll other people".<ref>[[post:341721]]</ref> Prior to the clarification, there was a dispute brought up over the justness of having KajTheModerator, but in reality the user was just created to display a good side of kaj, one that helps, and to end the trolling of users by seeing that a form of "kaj" was in authority.<ref>[[topic:34557]]</ref>

=== Deletion ===
On October 28, 2017, Paddle2See deleted KajTheModerator as he did not wish to continue account activities in addition to it causing some controversy.<ref>Paddle2See. (28/8/2017). "Eh, I was done with the account - and there seemed to be some controversy around it." [[users:Paddle2See/#comments-39028329]]{{dead link}}</ref>

== Scratch 2.0 Alpha ==
In the [[Scratch 2.0]] alpha, there was a bug that allowed users to view the [[profile]] pages of banned users.<ref>[[topic:811]]</ref> kaj's account became visible and was [[follow]]ed by several users before the bug was removed.<ref>[[post:5597]]</ref> The account's icon was the default icon.
The bug was later brought back intentionally because it was a way to find out who was banned and who was not.

== Scratch 2.0 ==
There was another bug that allowed users to follow kaj (and other banned or deleted users) using HTTP requests. This was patched, although many users had already followed kaj. A list of people who used this exploit and the one below can be found [[users:kaj/followers|here]]. Afterwards, another exploit was found by a few advanced Scratchers which allowed users to comment on kaj's profile. The comments used to be found [[scratch:site-api/comments/user/kaj/?page=1|here]]{{dead link}}, but the exploit was also patched by the Scratch Team. A glitch happened on September 28, 2015, when the followers' list became bugged and when a person was following kaj, kaj was able to be seen.{{cn|date=June 2021}}

=== Following Kaj with JavaScript Console ===
{{obsolete feature|cat=no}}
Some users followed kaj using the browser's JavaScript console by right-clicking on the site, clicking ''Inspect element'', selecting the Console tab and then entering the below snippet of code:
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">$.ajax({type: "PUT",url: "https://scratch.mit.edu/site-api/users/followers/kaj/add/",data: {usernames: Scratch.INIT_DATA.LOGGED_IN_USER.model.username}})</syntaxhighlight>

When a logged in user would then hit {{key press|Enter}}, kaj would be followed by that account.

== Forums ==
It was reported that in the Scratch Discussion forums, [[post:1647109|a post]]{{dead link}} had a message that it was last edited by kaj, without any [[BBCode]] used.<ref>[[topic:171581]]</ref> This was later revealed to be a joke made by a developer.<ref>[[users:Paddle2See/#comments-18918726]]{{dead link}}</ref> Some users have BBCode in their [[Forum Signature]] to make it look like the post was last edited by kaj as a joke.

== Appearances ==
[[File:Kaj from Scratch Mystery.png|thumb|kaj in the Scratch Mentors' series.]]
kaj made an appearance in Part 4 of the [[Scratch Mentors]]' series, [[Scratch Mentors#Publicly Released Projects|Scratch Mystery]], as a helper of [[Tera]].<ref>[[projects:54010298]]</ref>

== Controversies ==
In the Scratch Discussion Forums, a user brought up a suggestion to stop making fun of kaj.<ref name="kajsuggestion">[[topic:185924]]{{dead link}}</ref> The user stated that the practice was contrary to the Community Guidelines, and if kaj were to return to Scratch, they would be very upset over the projects made about them. The topic became controversial, with the support side even saying that the Scratch Team was going against their own rules.<ref name="kajsuggestion"></ref> However, Scratch Team member Paddle2See replied to the topic saying that kaj was amazed at the fame collected, and they were not upset about it.
{{quote|You will be pleased to know that we were contacted by email a number of years back by a person that claimed to have created the kaj account.  Their story checked out as far as we could see (they knew details of the account that lined up with what the account owner would know).  They were amazed by all the “fame” their simple account had collected over the years.  They didn't seem upset by it.|Paddle2See<ref>[[post:1826818]]{{dead link}}</ref>}}

== See Also ==
* [[Hacking]]

== Links ==
* [[projects:1602339|The story of Kaj - official project]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160730225527/https://scratch.mit.edu/users/KajTheModerator/ KajTheModerator's profile{{-}}Archived 30 July 2016]
* [[studios:31452734|Kaj Info studio]]

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Scratch Website]][[Category:Scratch Culture]]