A01=Andrew Peck
Author_Andrew Peck
belief
Category=JBCT
Category=JBGB
Category=UD
contemporary legend
digital age
digital legend
eq_bestseller
eq_computing
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
folk belief
folklife
folklore
internet
internet age
Legend
legend cycle
monster
networked belief
ostension
rumor
rumor panic
Slender Man
supernatural
supernatural folklife
supernatural folklore
urban legend
Waukesha stabbing
Product details
- ISBN 9780299343408
- Weight: 272g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 18 Jul 2023
- Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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The internet brings new urgency to the study of folklore. The digital networks we use every day amplify the capacity of legends to spread swiftly, define threats, and inform action. Using the case of a particularly popular digital bogeyman known as the Slender Man, Andrew Peck brings the study of legends into the twenty-first century. Peck explains not only how legends circulate in the digital swirl of the internet but also how the internet affects how legends seep into our offline lives and into the mass media we consume. What happens, he asks, when legends go online? How does the internet enable the creation of new legends? How do these ideas go viral? How do tradition and technology interact to construct collaborative beliefs?
Peck argues that the story of the Slender Man is really a story about the changing nature of belief in the age of the internet. Widely adopted digital technologies, from smartphones to social media, offer vast potential for extending traditional and expressive social behaviors in new ways. As such, understanding the online landscape of contemporary folklore is crucial for grasping the formation and circulation of belief in the digital age. Ultimately, Peck argues that advancing our comprehension of legends online can help us better understand how similar belief genres—like fake news, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, rumors, meme culture, and anti-expert movements—are enabled by digital media.
Peck argues that the story of the Slender Man is really a story about the changing nature of belief in the age of the internet. Widely adopted digital technologies, from smartphones to social media, offer vast potential for extending traditional and expressive social behaviors in new ways. As such, understanding the online landscape of contemporary folklore is crucial for grasping the formation and circulation of belief in the digital age. Ultimately, Peck argues that advancing our comprehension of legends online can help us better understand how similar belief genres—like fake news, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, rumors, meme culture, and anti-expert movements—are enabled by digital media.
Andrew Peck, an assistant professor of strategic communication at Miami University, is the coeditor of Folklore and Social Media. He has published many articles and chapters on the folkloric figure known as the Slender Man, digital legends, internet memes, and fake news.
