If one receives a chain e-mail, then one has to follow its instructions to pass it along. If it is not resent to more people, then one will have to suffer bad outcomes.
Carolyn knows this belief from middle school but does not believe that it is true. She says that when she first started receiving chain e-mails regarding crushes, she would respond to it and forward it to as many people as she could to ensure her safety in future relationships. She said that the e-mails would seem cursed, especially because it would build up suspense as the reader would scroll down to the bottom. When she reached high school, she realized that the bad luck that they specified, which included loss of love and friendship, did not really come true. Because of her age, however, she believed it when she was in her early teenage years.
It is very common for pre-teens and early teenage children to trust anonymous emails that tell can foretell ones future. Just like a fortune-teller, a chain e-mail has the same effect in that it decides the magnitude of ones love based on how many people it is forwarded to. The influence of technology on the 21st century has brought beliefs to an entirely different level. Now that the internet is the fastest way to transport information, it is expected that folklore is passed down in this fashion. It is expected that these chain e-mails exist because of their quick diffusion throughout society based on peoples eagerness to avoid more trouble. These constantly circulated chain e-mails are common in the young teen generation because of their gullibility and naivety. Because the influence of lust and love begins in middle school, the presence of chain e-mails regarding luck in relationships is highly abided by. The transition between elementary school and high school is a rite of passage that all adolescents have to go through in order to reach adulthood. In this transition stage, there are many beliefs such as the chain e-mail that young teenagers trust in.