"E-lore" is the generic name given to "traditional" materials that circulate electronically. Other names have been used (such as ".gif lore" for picture files that get sent around the net), but I prefer the broadness of "e-lore," since it can apply to text files and other items that people forward to each other as well. Plus, the term seems a natural extension of the prior terms "Xeroxlore" and "faxlore," the kinds of traditional jokes, pictures, and so forth whose transmission was made possible by earlier technologies. As the eminent folklorist Alan Dundes observed in his essay "Who Are the Folk?", far from hurting the transmission of folklore, technology only increases the speed at which the lore circulates and the number of people who can become part of the folk group that's acquainted with the lore.

For the purposes of this archive, I'm using the term e-lore to refer specifically to e-mail messages with widespread distribution (or "forwards," as some refer to them) whose origins are generally unknown.

You're probably very familiar with this genre of folklore even if you've never thought about it in these terms: how many fake "virus alerts" have you received, or messages warning you to not to flash your headlights at cars whose lights are out while driving at night? How many chain letters have bleeding-heart friends forwarded to you, asking that you forward the message along, or else a) your love life will go down the toilet; b) some poor child somewhere will be disconnected from his dialysis machine; or c) you'll forever regret the perfect opportunity to get rich quick? If you've received any of these kinds of messages, or any number of blonde jokes, "thanks for being my friend" tributes, or parodic lists of Martha Stewart's holiday decorating tips, you know all too well what e-lore is!

There are some complexities to collecting and analyzing e-lore that distinguish it from folklore that gets exchanged in face-to-face situations; see the explanations at the" disclaimer" and "what is natural context?" links for more information.