Text: I watched a youtube video in the fourth grade, with some of my friends, that described the lore behind Slender Man. I didn’t really believe in his existence, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of the possibility of him being real. I used to live in a densely forested area, and walking back from my friend’s home at night, during the peak of the distribution of Slender Man information, I would always run to avoid any possible encounters with this entity. Its not even that I saw him, or a figure resembling it at all, I was just worried at the possibility. When the trend of talking about slender man died down, though, I found myself not being fearful.

Context: Informant first became exposed to the idea of Slender Man in the fourth grade. They describe that it was a sort of “trend” to be knowledgable or discuss the figure at school and amongst friends. The informant believes that The Slender Man’s ability to scare the younger populations is what lead to its prevalence in the community. Informant believes that The Slender Man legend had the ability to create unity within younger populations through a collective fear.

Analysis: I find the contemporary legend of Slender Man to be very critical to understanding the interaction between folklore and the internet. It is undeniable that the propagation of his lore was attributed to social media, and many agree that his origin point was the web. Though he originated on a digital platform, he quickly took on the qualities of traditional folklore. He began to spread by means of oral tradition, and his stable presence proves that, even with technology, folklore continues to prosper.