Algorithmic Folklore

Folklore that emerges from vernacular creative practices inflected by the growing global relevance of algorithmic media
Gabriele de Seta 2026-10-16

Explication

The concepts of folklore and algorithm, while seemingly antithetic, display some surprising resemblances: folk narratives, arts, and crafts are transmitted in time with little structural changes through consistent patterns, rules, and archetypes that resemble algorithmic logics. Similarly, the rules-based logical procedures that are commonly described as ‘algorithmic’ become implemented through lay theories, vernacular knowledges, and everyday practices that much resemble folklore. Beyond this parallel, the relationship between folklore and algorithms can be traced back to the development of an algorithmic culture that directly connects medieval mathematics to contemporary computational technologies (Striphas). Early examples of folklore about calculation include stories such as “The Chessboard of Sissah”, which describes how the inventor of the game of chess tricked an Indian king with the principle of exponential duplication, making him promise to double one grain of wheat for each square of the board (Bardi). Folklore about algorithmic processes also includes myths, legends, traditions and rituals: as Matteo Pasquinelli demonstrates through his analysis of the Vedic ritual Agnicayana, rules-based problem-solving thinking and practices “have been part of all cultures and civilizations” (28). In short, human history consistently suggests that when processes or methods of calculation become relevant for society, a folklore about them follows. 

With the advent of calculating machines and computational technologies, folklore about algorithms has expanded to the domains of computer software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Examples include software or coding in-jokes shared by programmers or hackers (Long et al.); urban legends about neural networks spreading via computer science debates (Branwen); and narrative templates that structure discussions about artificial intelligence systems (Woolridge 34). In a 2021 essay, researchers Ireti Akinrinade and Joan Mukogosi coin the term “algorithmic folklore” to illustrate how teenagers interacting with TikTok’s recommender system and trying to reverse-engineer it also engage in the production of strategic knowledge: “[b]y sharing experiences, asking questions, and crowdsourcing answers, teens are developing an algorithmic folklore while discerning the potential motivations behind TikTok’s software engineering”. In this definition of algorithmic folklore, the term refers to a quite narrow range of folk theories and vernacular knowledges developed in order to understand and potentially influence the functioning of algorithmic systems such as social media feed recommendations. 

Researchers working across disciplines have also arrived at this concept to define similar phenomena. Laura Savolainen, for example, examines the informal “beliefs and stories about algorithmic governance” (1096) through which Reddit users discuss the dynamics of platform moderation by constructing belief in the folk category of “shadowbanning” – a supposed moderation practice that hides certain content from a user’s audience without their knowledge. Minna Ruckenstein’s 2023 book, The Feel of Algorithms, based on extensive interviews with Finnish people about their encounters with algorithms, foregrounds algorithmic folklore as a key form of literacy to be taken seriously even when it appears to be grounded on folk explanations (55). Folklore scholar Guro Flinterud (454) theorizes how algorithms not only become part of folklore but also play a role in its production and dissemination. Gabriele de Seta makes a similar point by defining algorithmic folklore as the repertoire of genres and practices that emerge from encounters between vernacular creativity and computational automation: “algorithms are not just a topic of vernacular creativity, but become its technological medium and actively participate in the creation and circulation of content” (“An Algorithmic Folklore” 240). In contrast to computational approaches that utilize big data and quantitative methods to analyze folkloric repertoires (Tangherlini), algorithmic folklore offers a useful analytical category to understand and conceptualize the new kinds of explanatory narratives, beliefs and practices developing around and through algorithmic systems (de Seta, “Four Theses”).

See Also

• Algorithmic Narrativity - The combination of the human ability to understand experience through narrative with the power of the computer to process and generate data that results in the development, modification, and distribution of narratives
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems, to create or interpret content in innovative and sometimes literary ways
• Conspiracy Theory - Explanatory framework based on belief and speculation that attributes major events to a secret, often malevolent group of actors, typically lacking verifiable evidence and contradicting official accounts
• Digital Narrative - Form of storytelling driven by algorithmic narrativity, inflected and mediated by computation, or the context of ubiquitous technological networks
• Fanfiction - Genre of writing, often published and shared in online communities, where fans create new stories based on characters, settings, or plots from existing works
• Machine Learning - Subset of artificial intelligence that involves the development of algorithms that allow computers to learn and adapt through experience, used in digital narratives to generate content or enhance interactivity
• Meme - Image, video, or text that is shared and modified extensively by users in digital spaces, giving rise to a rich body of derivatives
• Participatory Narrative - Form of storytelling that actively involves the audience in the creation or progression of the narrative, often facilitated by digital platforms that enable collaboration and interaction

Works Referenced

Akinrinade, Iretiolu, and Joan Mukogosi. “Strategic Knowledge.” Data & Society: Points, 16 July 2021, https://medium.com/datasociety-points/strategic-knowledge-6bbddb3f0259. 

Bardi, Alberto. “Mathematics and Cultures across the Chessboard: The Wheat and Chessboard Problem Revisited.” Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences, edited by Bharath Sriraman, Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025. 

Branwen, Gwern. “The Neural Net Tank Urban Legend.” Gwern, 2011, https://gwern.net/tank. Accessed 6 Oct. 2023. 

de Seta, Gabriele. “An Algorithmic Folklore: Vernacular Creativity in Times of Everyday Automation.” Critical Meme Reader III: Breaking the Meme, edited by Chloë Arkenbout and Idil Galip, Institute of Network Cultures, 2024. 

---. “Four Theses on Algorithmic Folklore.” Open Library of Humanities, vol. 12, no. 2, 2026, pp. 1–24. 

Flinterud, Guro. “‘Folk’ in the Age of Algorithms: Theorizing Folklore on Social Media Platforms.” Folklore, vol. 134, no. 4, 2023, pp. 439–461. 

Long, Christina, Stephanie Guo, and Robert Sylvia. “Computer Programmer Folklore.” Dartmouth Folklore Archive, 2017, https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/folklorearchive/fall-2017/computer-programmer-folklore/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025. 

Pasquinelli, Matteo. The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence. Verso, 2023. 

Ruckenstein, Minna. The Feel of Algorithms. University of California Press, 2023. 

Savolainen, Laura. “The Shadow Banning Controversy: Perceived Governance and Algorithmic Folklore.” Media, Culture & Society, vol. 44, no. 6, 2022, pp. 1091–109. 

Striphas, Ted. Algorithmic Culture before the Internet. Columbia University Press. 2023. 

Tangherlini, Timothy R. “Big Folklore: A Special Issue on Computational Folkloristics.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 129, no. 511, 2016, pp. 5–13. 

Woolridge, Michael. The Road to Conscious Machines: The Story of AI. Penguin Random House. 2021.

Further Reading

Bishop, Sophie. “Algorithmic Experts: Selling Algorithmic Lore on YouTube.” Social Media + Society, vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1–11. 

de Seta, Gabriele. “Algorithmic Folklore.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society, edited by Rayvon Fouché, Oxford University Press, 2026. 

MacDonald, Thomas WL. “‘How It Actually Works’: Algorithmic Lore Videos as Market Devices.” New Media & Society, vol. 25, no. 6, 2023, pp. 1412–1431. 

Oring, Elliot. “On the Tradition and Mathematics of Counting-Out.” Western Folklore, vol. 56, no. 2, 1997, pp. 139–152. 

Venturini, Tommaso. “Online Conspiracy Theories, Digital Platforms and Secondary Orality: Toward a Sociology of Online Monsters.” Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 39, no. 5, 2022, pp. 61–80.

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