Folklore means the traditional beliefs and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth. According to Spencer Chang, most of our everyday knowledge of how to use computers can be considered folklore. We do not have a formal education on how to use a laptop, but we try things and watch others. Folk programming is the kind of (re)programming we learn through our active use of the internet and software.
Experimentation is actually one of the most fundamental parts of software programming. Some might argue that because our software and hardware is getting more and more closed off, it is harder for people to get interested in tech. Jailbreaking your phone, customizing a design by hacking the code, using cheats in your game. These are all caused by people being interested in trying to make things work for themselves, and therefore breaking the system.
We are constantly changing software to make it work for us. An example is the trend where people use their Strava runs to get a geographical design of a symbol or something else that has meaning to them. Spreadsheets are another one, where cells, rows and formulas can be turned into games or art.
The technology we usually engage with is commercially intented and works for a large part outside our self-interest. Folk programming is the idea of designing our own spaces and reclaiming agency over our data, platform, and tools. It's about making what you need by shaping technology.
Reference
- Spencer Chang about "We're All (Folk) Programmers" in his Substack Reboot
- Folk Interfaces by Maggie Appleton