Techyness tips her hat to the classy ladies of social media

Nice girls are hard to find.

When I was at my (all girls, catholic) high school, I was (already) little miss techyness.

Even my “computer skills” teacher would often pull me out of my other classes to give demonstrations/help out.

Sure, even the teacher called me “computer geek,” but I had a hard time finding and meeting other females working in the tech sector back home in Perrysburg, Ohio.

So, I taught myself web development. I still have flashbacks to my first web site, which I called “Shooting Stars.” Humm. Yes, it was complete with everything, especially tables, a “hit counter” and graphics from flamingtext.

oh (internet.) how far we’ve come.

Things have changed since my time in high school, mainly the rise in interactive social media, and the fact that I ended up going to school with boys again.

Sometimes I think about what I could have learned about the tech industry if the blogs of today were around when I was in high school… and I believe that the vocal female bloggers from today would have been a pivotal group to reach out to for advice on college programs, jobs, and one’s experience as a female in the tech industry.

So, I’d like to give a shout out to a few females out there who serve as examples to all of us that women in tech are… both hot and smart, and aren’t afraid to show their techy side. [thanks to george for some insight on these ladies]

• iJustine: It all started with one crazy iPhone bill from at&t (300 pages).
• Sarah Evans: PR Sarah Evans is, honestly, one badass chick. She started her own PR firm, Sevans and shows that entrepreneurial thinking isn’t just left to the boys.
• Ladies of Mashable: If Pete was my boss, I’d be happy too (kidding ladies). But in all serious, these girls give us our daily fix on what’s going on in the social media world.

For additional links on blogs of the female kind, check out blog her.

Gone are the days where it was uncool to be a girl in tech. Live it up ladies!

+ to the readers out there… please comment with links to your favorite female bloggers :)

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).