The X-Files & the Internet grew together

As The X-Files saw its viewership expand from a "small, but devoted" group of fans to a worldwide mass audience, digital telecommunications were also becoming mainstream.

According to The New York Times, "this may have been the first show to find its audience growth tied to the growth of the Internet."The X-Files was seen to incorporate new technologies into storylines beginning in the early seasons: Mulder and Scully communicated on cellular phones, e-mail contact with secret informants provided plot points in episodes such as "Colony" and "Anasazi", while The Lone Gunmen were portrayed as Internet aficionados as early as 1994.

Many X-Files fans also had online access. Fans of the show became commonly known as "X-Philes, a term coined (from the Greek root "-phil-" meaning love or obsession) on an early Fidonet X-Files message board.

In addition to watching the show, X-Philes reviewed episodes themselves on unofficial web sites, formed communities with other fans through Usenet newsgroups and listservs,and wrote their own fan fiction.

As has also become commonplace in television today, episodes never displayed their titles on screen or in TV Guide; the producers disseminated the information via the Internet.
Unusually for the time, review sites and fan groups were also influential on the producers. Chris Carter claimed to read them: "The show originally [from 1993 to 1996] aired at 9 o'clock on Friday night and at 10 o'clock, I could get on the Internet and see what people thought of it."

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