My College Essay on Nerdfighters

This is my description essay for my college english class. It's 7 pages (double spaced). I turn it in on Monday. I'll put up what grade I get when It gets back to me.

“On Nerdfighteria Island”

Chances are you have no clue what a Nerdfighter is. It is still a very underground culture; a sub-culture of nerd sub-culture. There are at least 200,000 Nerdfighters in the world at this point. The total number of Nerdfighters can be measured by the number of subscribers the Vlogbrothers, the creators of Nerdfighters, have on YouTube. Outside of this number are a tiny group of people who know what a Nerdfighter is yet are not one themselves. This group consists of friends, parents, or other relatives of Nerdfighters and possibly a few people who have caught the limited media coverage about Nerdfighters. But just what is a Nerdfighter? Even Nerdfighters themselves have trouble describing it in a nutshell. On the surface, Nerdfighters are an online community of nerds who band together to find peace, knowing that they are not alone and that there are other people out there who are just as nerdy as they are and love the same stuff they do. This sounds like a simple explanation; however, there are many things that set Nerdfighter culture apart from regular nerd culture.

But what exactly is a nerd? Based on your views and social standing you may have a different idea of what a nerd is than the next person. The main thing that makes a nerd a nerd is liking stuff. Nerds like many different things from many different aspects of life, most notably pop culture. It is easy to pick out some nerd cultures right away. Fans of things such as Star Wars, comic books, video games, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and Pokémon are typically labeled as nerds. However, as long as you are obsessed enough about the subject, you can be a nerd about almost anything, such as music, books, cars, and movies. A great word to describe a nerd is eclectic. The second word that I would use to describe a nerd is enthusiastic. Nerds get very excited about the things they like. John Green, critically acclaimed young adult author and fellow nerd, says that “Nerds are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it… when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff,’ which is just not a good insult at all. Like, you are just too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.”

The only way to explain Nerdfighters thoroughly is to start with its history. In January of 2007, two brothers realized that the closeness of their brotherhood had been stifled by the amount of textual communication that took place between them. They began the Brotherhood 2.0 project in which they would only use the popular internet site YouTube to communicate to each other through the use of vlogs (video blogs) for an entire year. The aforementioned author John Green and Hank Green, a web designer and founder of the website Eco-Geek, which reports on ways green technology is being developed, became known as the Vlogbrothers on YouTube. They were not allowed to e-mail, instant message, text message, or use any other means of text based communication throughout the course of the Brotherhood 2.0 project. It may not have been the first, but it was definitely the first widely popular collab channel (a YouTube account that has more than one user) on YouTube.

The project took off and slowly began to gain a following of viewers. A month and a half after starting the project, John Green made one of his videos while waiting for his flight at an airport. John visited the arcade at the airport and found a game called Aero Fighters. The text of the title was very steep and there was a piece of plastic covering the very top of the word “Aero” so at a first glance John thought the game was called Nerd Fighters. John took the idea and ran with it, as many authors are capable of doing, and began to discuss in the video what a game called Nerdfighters would be about. He began to question what it is to be a nerd and why being a nerd is seen as a bad thing. In a later video, John went on to say, "Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?” John made the point that many important historical figures were nerds and that being a nerd is something that should be celebrated. He went on to dub the viewers of the Brotherhood 2.0 project the “Nerdfighters” and the culture was born.

John and Hank later discussed in the following videos more of what Nerdfighters was about. They established that instead of bones and tissue, Nerdfighters were actually made of awesome; and that they used this awesome to fight to reduce “world suck“ levels. World suck is anything in the world that is a bad thing, such as cancer, poverty, global warming, abuse, and especially social injustice against nerds. Nerdfighters are nerds who “band together against the scourge of popular people” and fight with their brains instead of their fists. Nerdfighters fight for nerds just like Freedom Fighters fight for freedom. Nerdfighters live by the initialism DFTBA which stands for “Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.” Non-Nerdfighters are typically the ones who FTBA (forget to be awesome) by promoting world suck through acts such as racism, breaking the law, discrimination, and drug use.

There are many different varieties of Nerdfighters depending on what nerd culture they most identify with. Not all Nerdfighters are the same, and one must choose which type of Nerdfighter they are going to be once they choose to become one. There are literature Nerdfighters, Zelda Nerdfighters, theater Nerdfighters and Star Wars Nerdfighters just to name a few. If a Nerdfighter is most interested in Pokémon, he or she may choose to become a Pokémon Nerdfighter and would be able to name all 493 Pokémon, will have played more than one of the Pokémon games, and will own all the Pokémon movies. A music Nerdfighter will listen to a dozen independent bands that not many people have heard of, be able to rattle off facts about the personal lives of The Beatles, and be able to play an instrument or two.

Along with the birth of Nerdfighters, the insider culture, canon, and references began. One of the first and most popular inside jokes was started by John’s friend and fellow author Maureen Johnson. She noticed that if you put “…in your pants” after a book title it made the titles significantly funnier. “My Pants” became the name for the online forum where the Nerdfighting community could interact. From here, thousands of ideas and expanse of the culture began such as putting things on your head to make yourself feel better about life, John’s “puff level” which refers to when John’s stress gets higher and he pulls on his hair making it stick up, and referring to John’s wife as “the yeti” because she is believed to exist but has never been seen in a Vlogbrothers video. These and many others, including many references from John’s novels and songs that Hank wrote, became the basis of the insider culture of Nerdfighteria. Nerdfighteria refers to an imaginary island where there all the Nerdfighters live together.

John and Hank realized they had started something fantastic. Nerds are typically the outcasts of society and are always on the outside looking in- Nerdfighters became a way for nerds to be on the inside and feel like they are a part of something. Nerdfighters are known for using their powers “for awesome”, or for good things that fight world suck levels. They started the annual You Tube “Project For Awesome” where hundreds of Nerdfighters would each make a YouTube video in support of a charity. The Nerdfighting community then got together and rated, favorited, and commented on all of the charity videos to get them onto the most rated, most favorited and most discussed page on YouTube thus gaining charity awareness. The Nerdfighters recently joined forces with the Harry Potter fan community in a project called “Helping Haiti Heal”. All sorts of prizes including autographed copies of John Green’s books, signed copies of Harry Potter books and other various Harry Potter/Nerdfighter related prizes were auctioned off by selling raffle tickets at various donation prices. The project gained over $123,000 and filled three cargo planes (named Harry, Ron, and Hermione) with supplies to send to Haiti.

A Nerdfighter is a good role model. The community values “quality over quantity” and promotes fortitude that parents couldn’t pay to have instilled into their children. Nerdfighters value education and being good students, doing their homework and trying their best to get good grades. Nerdfighters are polite to everyone and believe in equality and fairness. They also have a love of books and enjoy showcasing their literacy through their advanced vocabulary. Nerdfighters are very social and have many different ways of interacting with each other. Nerdfighters.com would be the first on the list in general communication between Nerdfighters. YouTube is next on the list where anyone can find Nerdfighters that make videos and interact with their various Nerdfighter viewers. Another website that is used to rally Nerdfighters together is blogtv.com. This site lets a host broadcast through a webcam to a chat room. Many friendships are sparked through these main sites. Once initial interaction begins, Nerdfighters keep in touch with each other through Facebook, Twitter, and Skype- a popular instant messenger that also allows video and voice chat.

Many people on YouTube come across John and Hank’s videos and use lots of bad grammar to insult them. Comments such as “your gay” and “ugh jeez get a life nerd” have led to haters being known as “giant squids of anger.” Giant squids of anger, who are rude and vacuous people, also referred to as “Decepticons,” would be the opposite of a Nerdfighter along with the assumed jocks, preps, and popular kids that are typically associated with the opposites of nerds. Moments involving these types of people are moments when Nerdfighters spring into action. A Nerdfighter would look at the comment “your gay” and explain to the commenter that “your” is used incorrectly, would explain to them why “gay” should not be used as an insult, and possibly fight back at them with a Shakespearean insult.

Nerdfighteria is an excellent place to get positive feedback for one’s creative ideas. Nerdfighters are encouraged to be creative and make good use of any talents they have and also to try new things. There is a strong music scene in Nerdfighteria which has led to the creation of DFTBA Records, co-founded by Hank Green. The label features a place for YouTube musicians to reach their audiences and distribute their music to their fans; including Hank Green who was one of DFTBA Records’ first artists and has released three albums of songs that he created for “Song Wednesdays” on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel.

Occasionally, Nerdfighters will get together at Nerdfighter Gatherings where everyone can meet up IRL (in real life). Most notably, John and Hank went on “The Great American Tour De Nerdfighting” in 2008 and visited over 30 cites and rallied Nerdfighters together to sign things, play music, discuss John’s books and have lots of fun. Nerdfighter gatherings bring the friendships off of the internet and into real life; and meeting Nerdfighters from the internet in real life is nowhere near the same as meeting some potential rapist in a chat room. Some Nerdfighters, because of their nerdy tendencies, are unable to achieve the social life they dream of; and Nerdfighters is a way for these kids to acquire the interaction they struggle for.

Nerdfighting goes far beyond the community, it is very active on an individual level and is an attitude and a lifestyle. Nerdfighters grow to accept themselves and become happy with who they are while fighting for what is good and right. The little project that John and Hank started over three years ago has inspired hundreds of thousands of young adults to be better people. It is challenging to describe Nerdfighters to an outsider because of how much content has been spawned in the past few years. Nerdfighters can be a life changing experience (it is for me) and it is a wonderful, positive lifestyle for young (nerd) adults to get involved in. I have met many amazing people through the Nerdfighting community (a few of whom helped me edit this essay to make sure all of the canon and terminology is correct) and have found closure in embracing my inner nerd and being proud of it. Being a Nerdfighter is a strong characteristic that I hope stays with me for the rest of my life.

NERDS IN MY ENGLISH CLASS!

This was a sample essay my college english teacher gave us. I DID NOT WRITE THIS! But i think it's super awesome that one of her former students wrote it. I would like to meet this person:

The True Revenge of the Nerds

Do you like Fantasy? How about Science Fiction? Do you like Comic books too? How about horror movies, Monty Python, video games, Doctor Who, cult films, cartoons, or Dungeons and Dragons? Have you argued over whether Kirk or Piccard made the better starship captain? Were you angry when George Lucas changed Star Wars and had Greedo shooting Han first when everybody knows Han Shot First?! If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then congratulations, you may be a nerd. Relax; it's okay to be a nerd. If your immediate reaction to finding out that you might be a nerd was one of shock then you need to read my essay. Most people are nerds about one thing or another and that is what makes being a nerd so endearing. Knowing what a nerd is and how to recognize one will be an important skill throughout your life because if you are not a nerd yourself you surely know a nerd, even if you don't realize it. As all G.I. Joe lovers will attest, Knowing is Half the Battle!
Liking something from the above list does not necessarily mean that you are a nerd and liking something I have not put on the list does not exclude you from being a nerd. You can be a nerd about almost anything. Nerd is a lifestyle bit it is not a lifestyle by choice. Nerds cannot help but be nerds. I am convinced that it is embedded in DNA, no different than eye color, and is set into motion at puberty. Being a nerd is a remnant of the butterfly effect from a misstep of a Neanderthal ancestor. No amount of TARDIS inspired time travel can change nerds into something they are not. It is fate. It is destiny, and Resistance Is Futile!
Now that it has been made clear that being a nerd isn't a bad thing and it isn't a choice, how can you tell if you or someone you know is a nerd? Clue number one would be if you have grasped two or more of my pop-culture references used in the essay thus far. Seriously though, there are several factors that make a person a nerd and distinguish being a nerd from being a geek or a dork. If you know what these factors are then spotting a nerd can be as easy as a beholder spotting Waldo in one of those books. It is necessary to distinguish a nerd from a geek or a dork because these words are often used interchangeably and i find this to be completely unacceptable. Once you know what makes a nerd a nerd you iwll experience the Tribble effect, and nerds will seemingly multiply all around you.
The most effective way to demonstrate what makes a person a nerd is to compare and contrast nerds with geeks and dorks. The first quality that makes nerds what they are is that nerds do not discriminate knowledge seeking. Nerds know a log of things about a lot of topics. This knowledge can range from practical topics such as what a jumper switch in a computer is used for or naming the twelve cranial nerves to frivolous topics such as naming all the Jedi on the Jedi council or knowing how many times Superman died in his storied history. A geek knows a lot, in fact, almost everything about one topic but not nearly as much about others. For instance a geek might love Star Trek to the point of having learned Klingon and knowing which actor played which nameless ensign in what episode, but think that Star Wars is convoluted and ridiculous. A nerd, however, will like both Star Trek and Star Wars and also Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5, knowing a lot about all of them but having mastered none of them. A dork will also try to be diverse like a nerd but will have less knowledge mastery in all topics. The lack of mastery in and of itself isn't what makes a dork a dork. It is the lack of mastery combines with the unwillingness to admit when they have been proven wrong that makes a dork a mole person in the eyes of nerds.
It isn't just the mastery of the knowledge that makes someone a nerd it is also the way they respond when that knowledge is challenged. Nerds know the first video games Mario appeared in was Donkey Kong and if somebody were to come along and tell those nerds that the first game Mario appeared in was the original Mario Bros. the nerds would know this person was incorrect. However, nerds would know the person was wrong and not say anything or maybe kindly suggest that they believe the correct first appearance is Donkey Kong but that this could be solved with a Google search. This is, of course, unless the person that was wrong was a dork, in which case, anything and everything would be done to make that person embarassed at just how little they actually knew. Geeks faced with this same frustration situation would not only let the other person know how wrong they were but would also raise their voices, become indignant, tell them how dumb they are, and give them even more facts related to the subject. As i stated before, geeks are very passionate about one thing. When you are passionate about something, no matter how trivial it may be, you tend to fight for it as if it were a badge of honor. This particular geek just happened to be passionate about Mario.
Another quality of a nerd is that a nerd's knowledge, while at times may be practical, is not usually marketable. One of the two main factors that separate a nerd and a geek is that a geek can turn what they are a geek about into a merketable skill. When you are the best or know the most about something you are in high demand. This is especially true with people who are considered computer geeks, finance geeks, math geeks, and so on. A nerd's knowledge base and true passions run more on the pop-culture side of things. A nerd may make a living as a mathematician, financial expert, or a computer programmer but you have never heard of a finance nerd or a math nerd. Though, you do hear of Star Wars nerds and comic book nerds. If you are a lucky nerd you can turn a nerd passion into a lucrative career. The creator of the Wookiepedia (a wiki fan site that is all things Star Wars) was hired to be the head of the Star Wars continuity and canon division and is currently doing quite well. A dork is not a good thing to be by any means. A dork not only has few marketable skills and less knowledge that either a geek or a nerd, they also generally lack the motivation or skills to even attempt to be marketable. These are the people i've worked with in fast food who seemed to be delusional about how skilled and how smart they were and whould garantee that within five years they were going to create a revolutionary new video game even though they have never shown any actual ability to program, tell a story, or be an artistic designer short of the bantha dung that spews out of their mouths.
The other main factor and most important characteristic that separates a nerd from a geek or a dork is that nerds have social skills. I know you don't believe me but it is true. Despite how nerds are portrayed in movies like Revenge of the Nerds (they were geeks by the way) nerds not only want and attempt to have friends but they can maintain conversations and even relationships. If you don't believe me try talking to a nerd about something, anything. They may be a little socially awkward or quirky but they will be excited to talk to you, funny, clever, and always have something to say about everything because that is their specialty, knowing a lot about a lot. Geeks, however, may want to talk to you and may want to talk to you and may want to interject some of their specialized wisdom into a conversation or explaining things on a technical level, even when the topic is far from technical. A nerd may talk to you about your favorite food but a geek will explain to you, using techincal jargon, how your taste buds send information to the thalamus, tractus solitaries, and the postcentral gyrus releasing hormones like dopamine thus making your chemical reaction to the food a positive one and imprinting in your hippocampus the idea of your favorite food, pizza in this case. A dorks social skills are severely hampered due to trying too hard to fit in or be cool. Dorks might or might not know the technical reason why you like pizza, they might love or hate pizza, but they will always agree with the majority consensus to fit into a group. Dorks also have the added stigma of not being the most hygienic of the groups (due to general lack of motivation) helping to hamper their social skills even further. Why would anyone want to talk to a smelly nerf-herder anyway? Geeks are more hygienic but may wear mismatch clothes or have unkempt hair. Nerds use their exlectic tastes and motivations to come up with their own wacky style, and wacky has become increasingly acceptable in America.
In case further clarification is necessary the members of They Might Be Giants are nerds, Bill Gates is a geek, and Napoleon Dynamite is a dork. Nerds have seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and can name the characters. Geeks have seen the movie hundreds of times, dress up, and are the re-enactors. Dorks know what the movie is, havn't seen the movie but pretend they have, and used to dress up but don't currently for unspecified reasons. You can be a geek who is nerdy about some things, you can be a nerd who is geeky about some things, but, by nature, dorks cannot be nerds or geeks and if a nerd or a geek becomes a dork there is no turning back.
How do I have the authority to say what a nerd is and what it means to be a nerd? If you haven't guessed, I am one. If i wasn't how would I be able to fill my essay with this myriad of pop-culture references? I am the archetypical nerd. I know a lot about a lot of things, most of my knowledge is frivolous, and I am content with knowing I'm right, not proving I'm right. I can hold a conversation, I have dated, and I'm married. I care about my appearance but my hair is still a little wacky. Do I have geeky tendencies? Yes, don't mess with my Star Wars, don't even try. I cannot call myself a geek, though. I am a nerd through and through. I am okay with that and, by now, you should be too. The next time you or someone you know is called a nerd, or the next time you want to call someone a nerd remember the guidelines for what is to really be a nerd. If a person is using nerd in a negative manner you have my permission to call them a dork. I ask that all nerds realize and accept what they are and form a unified force [***man if this guy only knew about nerdfighters***]... and i'll form the head. [***yeah, or john and hank will :)]

i typed this really fast and i know theres a ton of errors in it but i'm not gonna go through and fix them.