cap stasher's Dev Blog

Dear Netizens,

I am putting forth to you a request. I would love to know if you have any interesting pieces of internet folklore. Internet folklore is comprised of a large range of elements. Trevor J. Blank, in the book "Folklore and the Internet" defines folklore as "the outward expression of creativity - in myriad foms and interactions - by individuals and their communities." and for the purposes of this that is the general definition we will use. However I would like to add some further stipulations. A folkloric story is a tale told from person to person, changing as it goes along. The best of folkloric tales also diverge into completely different narratives from community to community.

O̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶I̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶F̶o̶l̶k̶l̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶f̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶r̶e̶n̶d̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶u̶n̶d̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶b̶l̶u̶r̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶o̶l̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶.̶ ̶B̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶?̶

̶F̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶f̶i̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶u̶t̶h̶o̶r̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶u̶t̶h̶o̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶r̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶v̶i̶n̶c̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶u̶n̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶e̶n̶h̶a̶n̶c̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶n̶a̶r̶r̶a̶t̶i̶v̶e̶.̶ ̶A̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶s̶.̶

̶C̶r̶e̶e̶p̶y̶p̶a̶s̶t̶a̶s̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶o̶n̶i̶c̶h̶u̶ ̶A̶m̶u̶l̶e̶t̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶o̶l̶k̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶L̶o̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶5̶8̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶C̶i̶c̶a̶d̶a̶ ̶3̶3̶0̶1̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶o̶l̶k̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶H̶e̶r̶o̶b̶r̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶ ̶W̶h̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶E̶y̶e̶s̶ ̶(̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶p̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶H̶e̶r̶o̶b̶r̶i̶n̶e̶)̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶o̶l̶k̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶I̶c̶e̶ ̶B̶u̶c̶k̶e̶t̶ ̶C̶h̶a̶l̶l̶e̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶-̶ ̶T̶r̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶M̶e̶m̶e̶

̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶R̶u̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶I̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶-̶ ̶F̶o̶l̶k̶l̶o̶r̶e̶

̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶f̶f̶i̶c̶u̶l̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶u̶i̶s̶h̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶l̶a̶s̶s̶i̶f̶i̶c̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶d̶e̶f̶i̶n̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶a̶k̶e̶l̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶e̶s̶t̶a̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶o̶n̶s̶,̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶a̶l̶o̶g̶ ̶h̶o̶r̶r̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶l̶e̶c̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶s̶ ̶(̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶C̶r̶e̶e̶p̶y̶p̶a̶s̶t̶a̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶C̶P̶ ̶F̶o̶u̶n̶d̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶)̶.̶ ̶

I have changed my mind on Fakelore, the more digging I do, the more I appreciate the impact of stories made as creative works of art on the Internet. This is valuable culture and it would be a shame for it to be lost. Please submit any entries you can think of. Think of stories in your particular niche, fandom, website you frequented, bizzare online fascination as a kid, software project, software cracking or piracy stories, infamous online groups, major hacks, internet horror, whatever it may be.

Another thing to notice is not all Internet Folklore is horror or supernatural oriented, as exemplified by the Rules of the Internet. There is also quite a broad range of popularity between these stories. From legendary bits of folklore like John Titor, to more obscure stories isolated to some BBS or forum that shut down more than a decade ago. If you remember the story, even remotely, (and even if you are confused by the folklore/fakelore distinction) please send it my way. It would be greatly appreciated. You may reach out to me in whichever way is most convenient for you:

Discord: @capstasher (though my reply may be quite slow on there)

e-Mail: [email protected]

on my Neocities Profile

or right here on Tumblr via DMs!

Yours truly and faithfully,

capstasher

P.S. Please make sure the stories are at least related in a way to the internet. The action, or part of the action should have taken place online. Operation Soda Steal was first laid out on a forum and then replicated by Youtubers and as such it counts. An old legendary argument from a forum like "The Dumbest Boy that Ever Lived" happened entirely online and as such counts. A true crime story from the 70s being told on Youtube does not count. Use your judgment, and if you are unsure, send it my way and I will let you know.