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The New Levels of Geekdom (& Taylor Swift?)

July 7th, 2009 by ame

As far as I can remember, there have always been those who have been considered “geeks.”

Sure, you may have categorized these people appropriately, given their interests (be it computers, math, band, etc.) But it’s my personal opinion that these categories have seem to become a little bit more awesome and much less offensive in recent years (maybe it’s because the smart kids end up running the world? Or founding awesome entrepreneurial startups?)

Sure, my life sometimes reads like a great taylor swift song when it comes to my geek-level in earlier years (confession: i was guaranteed to always have a book in hand… no kindles or affordable macbook pro yet but at least i have a podcast).

Believe it or not, significant research has been done not only on geek vs. nerd word usage- and if one is cooler than the other in today’s society.

According to Lori Kendall, a Professor at U of I, “The valence of the word ‘geek’ has really changed over the years.   People talk about ‘geeking out,’ which indicates a very intense focus on an interest, and sometimes it’s an interest that not a lot of people share. It tends to indicate expertise and passion about something.

” ‘Nerd’ is a stickier term that is applied to people in a more negative way.  ’Geek’ is something you can do and then leave behind, but ‘nerd’ is what you are.”

There is a distinct difference between Geek 1.0 (old school) and Geek 2.0, in the technology sense, as explained per this lovely graphic that had quite a few diggs… But, in my opinion, geek can truly be chic, and what the real clincher here is… just HAVING technology is different than understanding it (and the latter is pretty cool, IMO).

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  • http://www.georgegsmithjr.com/ George G Smith Jr

    I kind of wrote about this subject here in my post “The Long Tail of Cool.”

    http://georgegsmithjr.com/2009/06/08/the-long-tail-of-cool/

    Basically, with the internet, people are more apt to find people that share their similar interests. Instead of being a lonely boy sitting at home without anyone to talk to about what you’re passionate about, you can be LonelyBoy1985 and spend all day posting in the message boards of your choice. Or participating in social networks. Or meeting people at Tweetups with an “@” symbol on your name tag and new friends in the room.

    Since Geekdom often existed due to the interest in niche ideas (whether it’s intelligent topics like computers, math, music, etc or stuff like Dungeon and Dragons or Comic Books), being able to find a community – even a digital one – changes the game. It was only a matter of time before marketers realized that a larger chunk of the population is actually closer to geek than cool (I <3 the Long Tail) and adjusted their approach accordingly – making geek far more chic by starting to position products toward that demographic.

  • http://www.georgegsmithjr.com George G Smith Jr

    I kind of wrote about this subject here in my post “The Long Tail of Cool.”

    http://georgegsmithjr.com/2009/06/08/the-long-tail-of-cool/

    Basically, with the internet, people are more apt to find people that share their similar interests. Instead of being a lonely boy sitting at home without anyone to talk to about what you’re passionate about, you can be LonelyBoy1985 and spend all day posting in the message boards of your choice. Or participating in social networks. Or meeting people at Tweetups with an “@” symbol on your name tag and new friends in the room.

    Since Geekdom often existed due to the interest in niche ideas (whether it’s intelligent topics like computers, math, music, etc or stuff like Dungeon and Dragons or Comic Books), being able to find a community – even a digital one – changes the game. It was only a matter of time before marketers realized that a larger chunk of the population is actually closer to geek than cool (I <3 the Long Tail) and adjusted their approach accordingly – making geek far more chic by starting to position products toward that demographic.

  • http://thePreppyPrincess.wordpress.com/ The Princess

    We love Geek Chic Miss Techyness! The chart/diagram was too funny, it brought back memories of every Chief Engineer at every TV station I worked at – the pocket protector was mandator, honestly!

    Grins & Giggles,
    tp

  • http://thePreppyPrincess.wordpress.com The Princess

    We love Geek Chic Miss Techyness! The chart/diagram was too funny, it brought back memories of every Chief Engineer at every TV station I worked at – the pocket protector was mandator, honestly!

    Grins & Giggles,
    tp