When most people think of “folklore” they think of the old, the rural, the rustic. They typically don’t think of the internet, a technology that, if anything, is commonly judged to be dismantling our culture: destroying our interpersonal skills, squashing our cultural vitality, killing our individual creativity. Surprisingly, however, personal communications technologies have become the locus of a huge expanse of contemporary folk culture. Understanding the nature of folklore helps us identify the positive elements of digital culture.

Lynne S. McNeill was born and raised in northern California, and if she had known what a folklorist was when she was a child, she’d have wanted to be one when she grew up. Happily, she is a folklorist now, teaching folklore classes at Utah State University and specializing in digital culture, legend, and belief. Lynne co-directs the Digital Folklore Project, serves as director of the online folklore minor and as reviews editor for the journal Contemporary Legend, and tweets as an old, male folklorist named Wayland Hand. She is also the author of "Folklore Rules," an introductory text book.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.