Editing Urban legend (section)

==Genres==

===Crime===
As with traditional urban legends, many internet [[rumor]]s are about crimes or crime waves – either fictional or based on real events that have been largely exaggerated.<ref>Pamela Donovan, No Way of Knowing: Crime, Urban Legends, and the Internet (Psychology Press, 2004).</ref><ref>Pamela Donovan, ''Crime legends in a new medium: Fact, fiction and loss of authority'', Theoretical Criminology; vol. 6 no. 2; May 2002; pp. 189–215.</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Zimring |first1 = Franklin E. |author-link1 = Franklin E. Zimring |editor-last1 = Sprott |editor-first1 = Jane B. |editor-last2 = Doob |editor-first2 = Anthony N. |editor-link2 = Anthony Doob |chapter = Foreword |title = Justice for Girls?: Stability and Change in the Youth Justice Systems of the United States and Canada |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u4FpYMIUnoAC |series = Adolescent Development and Legal Policy |date = 15 December 2009 |location = Chicago |publisher  = University of Chicago Press |publication-date = 2009 |page = viii |isbn  = 9780226770062 |access-date = 1 March 2022 |quote = Although isolated and misleading statistical sound bites make the news, the long-term stability of low rates of serious crime by females is a rule with very few exceptions.  As of 2008, the girl crime wave is properly classified as an urban legend.}}</ref> Such stories can be problematic, both because they purport to be relevant modern news and because they do not follow the typical patterns of urban legends.<ref>{{Cite book|title= No Way of Knowing Crime, Urban Legends, and the Internet|last =Donovan|first= Pamela|publisher= Routledge|year= 2004|isbn= 0203507797|location= Great Britain |pages= 2–3}}</ref>

===Medicine===
Some legends are medical [[folklore]], such as the claim that eating [[watermelon]] [[seed]]s will result in a watermelon growing in the [[stomach]], or that going outdoors just after showering will result in catching a cold.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web | url= https://www.boardvitals.com/blog/medical-myths-hoaxes/| title= Medical Myths and Hoaxes: Debunked? You Be The Judge| date= April 2017}}</ref> Many [[old wives' tale]]s have grown around the identification of ailments, real and imagined, and the recommended remedies, rituals, and home-grown medical treatments to treat them.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

===Internet===
Internet urban legends are those spread through the internet, as through [[Usenet]] or email<ref name=frost>Chris Frost, (2000) "Tales on the Internet: making it up as you go along", ''ASLIB Proceedings'', Vol. 52 Iss: 1, pp.&nbsp;5–10</ref> or more recently through other [[social media]]. They can also be linked to [[viral phenomenon|viral]] online content. Some take the form of [[chain letters]] and spread by e-mail, directing the reader to share them or to meet a terrible fate,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/luck/chain.asp |title= Chain Linked|work= Snopes.com|date= 5 May 2005|access-date= 21 November 2012}}</ref> and following a recognizable outline of hook, threat, and finally request.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/3231/FF%2037-1%20Blank.pdf;sequence=1|title= Examining the Transmission of Urban Legends: Making the Case for Folklore Fieldwork on the Internet|last= Blank|first= Trevor |date=2007}}</ref>

===Paranormal===
Paranormal urban-legend stories usually involve someone encountering something supernatural, such as a [[list of cryptids|cryptid]]<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cryptid| title= Definition of CRYPTID| website= www.merriam-webster.com| language= en| access-date= 2020-02-20}}</ref>—for instance, [[Bigfoot]] or [[Mothman]],<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/an-overview-of-paracryptozoology| title= An Overview of Paracryptozoology| website= Supernatural Magazine| language= en-US| access-date= 2020-02-20}}</ref> legendary creatures for which evidence is lacking but which have legions of believers.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Dagnall| first1= Neil| last2= Denovan| first2= Andrew| last3= Drinkwater| first3= Kenneth| last4= Parker| first4= Andrew | last5= Clough| first5= Peter J.| date= 2017| title= Urban Legends and Paranormal Beliefs: The Role of Reality Testing and Schizotypy| journal=Frontiers in Psychology| language= en| volume= 8| page=942| doi= 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00942 | pmid= 28642726| pmc=5463090| issn=1664-1078| doi-access=free}}</ref> Research shows that people experiencing sudden or surprising events (such as a Bigfoot sighting) may significantly overestimate the duration of the event.<ref name="Radford and Frazier (2017)">{{Cite journal | last1=Radford | first1=Benjamin | author-link1=Benjamin Radford |last2=Frazier |first2=Kendrick |author-link2=Kendrick Frazier |date=January 2017 |title= Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time  |journal=Skeptical Inquirer  |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=60–61}}</ref>

=== Marketing ===
Companies have been accused of hiding "secret messages" behind their [[logo]]s or packaging,<ref>{{Cite book | title=The United Symbolism of America : Deciphering Hidden Meanings in America's Most Familiar Art, Architecture, and Logos| last=Hieronimus| first=Robert| publisher=New Page Books| year=2008| isbn=9781601630018| location=Franklin Lakes, NJ| pages=267}}</ref> as in the case of the old [[Procter & Gamble]] symbol, supposedly an occult figure that gave panache to the brand. (If the thirteen stars in the symbol were connected a certain way, it would show [[number of the beast|three sixes]] in a row or looked at the 3 curls at the bottom they form the inverted 6s.)<ref>{{Cite book | title=The Big Book of Urban Legends| publisher=Paradox Press| year=1994| isbn=1-56389-165-4| location=New York| pages=[https://archive.org/details/bigbookofurbanle0000flem/page/172 172]| url=https://archive.org/details/bigbookofurbanle0000flem/page/172}}</ref> Similarly, a video of a Christian woman "exposing" [[Monster Energy]] for using the [[Waw (letter)#Hebrew waw/vav|Hebrew letter ''vav'']] ( ו ), forming the letter "M", to disguise the number 666 went [[viral video|viral]] on Facebook.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/monster-energy-drink-666/| title=Does the Monster Energy Drink Logo Include the Number 666?| last=LaCapria | first=Kim | date=10 November 2014| website=Snopes}}</ref>