An examination of folktales and urban legends on the Internet, however, suggests that, if anything, this technology is becoming increasingly mythologized and is leading to a new sense of domestic alienation. Chief among these technologies has been the explosion of the Internet, giving some users a new sense of community based upon a shared 'reality' empowered by technology. Not surprisingly, the online community has created its own set of myths, often telling of unknown persons and unusual events. Stories of this character's powers circulate in abundance, forwarded from one person to the next through e-mail and newsgroups. These stories represent a new breed of legend, one which combines the traditional folktale with the style and contemporary nature of urban legends to form a new version of both, something that might best be described as an electronic legend or e-legend.
Virus hoaxes are perhaps the most noticeable form of the hacker e-legend.
They are terrifying stories, which warn against imaginary and often technically impossible viruses created by hackers. As part of any investigation into folktales and legends, it is necessary to identify the community for whom these stories provide some means of information transmission. In the case of e-legends, the community in question is the 'wired community' collectively known as the Internet. From its origins in academic and defense department computing, the Internet has gradually come to affect almost every aspect of modern life, from how we gather and arrange information, to where we go to buy a new car. Virus hoaxes thrive in a community for whom the threat of virus infection is a genuinely frightening possibility.