1 )Discuss the interaction between folklore and commercially produced culture. Give an example of an online folk reaction to popular (commercially produced) culture. This response can be an expansion (like fan fiction or another of the fan genres). This response can be a satire or parody. In your answer a) name the original item, the one to which the response was made, and describe it. Is it an item of material culture, social culture, or verbal culture? b) give one or more examples of the folk response, along with the URL where they can be found. Discuss the response(s) and what they show about the attitudes of the person or persons who made the post(s). (5 points)
2) Commercial companies troll the web to see what people are posting. How does examining digital folklore help companies figure out good approaches to selling products? Give an example of the commercial use of digital folklore. We talked about examining the web to find patterns of race, gender, ethnicity, age. Give an example of at least one such pattern, with URLs, if possible. How might commercial companies make use of this information? (5 points)
3) Students at the University of Alberta build websites for use in elementary schools. When we work on these websites, how can we use what is posted online to determine what we should develop? How can we get information about what is appealing to children? How can we get information about things that parents would like us to include or to avoid? We also test our sites in elementary classrooms. What information can we gain from classroom testing? (5 points)
