![I wanted to write something longer about the intro video to geekadvancement.com, but Marco’s already done a great job. Here’s my favorite excerpt:
While some people in [the video] are really geeks, most aren’t, and the inclusion of some is baffling. Being a popular user of a “new media” site, or being a “new media” celebrity, doesn’t make you a geek. There’s absolutely no connection whatsoever. This video tarnishes true geek culture with new-media celebrities because — surprise — it was made by new-media people, many of whom try to be cool by saying that they’re geeks (which, in addition to being far from the truth, is guaranteed to insult and frustrate actual geeks).
Being a good user of computers and internet-based services stopped being a geek-exclusive behavior a very long time ago. Geek culture isn’t something that a Twitter celebrity suddenly enters because Twitter was written by programmers and runs on servers.
and from a later post:
Geeks haven’t gone away, and they haven’t become cool. People haven’t stopped being cruel to them, and they haven’t magically overcome their problems. Most of the people in that video would never give an actual geek the time of day.
A bunch of people incorrectly suggesting that they’ve suffered the same fate as a continually repressed group — repressed, sometimes, by the kind of people in this video — is offensive at best, and it degrades the reality of being a geek, the worst of which these people (with a small number of exceptions) will never experience or understand.
Nicely put. Being a social outcast really, really, really sucks, and there can be long-term emotional ramifications that are difficult to address.
On another note, I’m fascinated that Shira Lazar’s video has a tinge of the exclusivity and snottiness I mainly associated with seventh grade homeroom (the year that Gayle, Lisa and Carla decided I couldn’t sit near them. Heyo! No, I didn’t forget). Public ostrasism isn’t for the faint at heart, and the fact that Lazar spent so much time dictating and publicizing the boundaries of her percieved social group indicates that nothing like that has ever happened to her.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/bhKTvCKNAneml1ceHd8tEuL5o1_500.png)
I wanted to write something longer about the intro video to geekadvancement.com, but Marco’s already done a great job. Here’s my favorite excerpt:
While some people in [the video] are really geeks, most aren’t, and the inclusion of some is baffling. Being a popular user of a “new media” site, or being a “new media” celebrity, doesn’t make you a geek. There’s absolutely no connection whatsoever. This video tarnishes true geek culture with new-media celebrities because — surprise — it was made by new-media people, many of whom try to be cool by saying that they’re geeks (which, in addition to being far from the truth, is guaranteed to insult and frustrate actual geeks).
Being a good user of computers and internet-based services stopped being a geek-exclusive behavior a very long time ago. Geek culture isn’t something that a Twitter celebrity suddenly enters because Twitter was written by programmers and runs on servers.
and from a later post:
Geeks haven’t gone away, and they haven’t become cool. People haven’t stopped being cruel to them, and they haven’t magically overcome their problems. Most of the people in that video would never give an actual geek the time of day.
A bunch of people incorrectly suggesting that they’ve suffered the same fate as a continually repressed group — repressed, sometimes, by the kind of people in this video — is offensive at best, and it degrades the reality of being a geek, the worst of which these people (with a small number of exceptions) will never experience or understand.
Nicely put. Being a social outcast really, really, really sucks, and there can be long-term emotional ramifications that are difficult to address.
On another note, I’m fascinated that Shira Lazar’s video has a tinge of the exclusivity and snottiness I mainly associated with seventh grade homeroom (the year that Gayle, Lisa and Carla decided I couldn’t sit near them. Heyo! No, I didn’t forget). Public ostrasism isn’t for the faint at heart, and the fact that Lazar spent so much time dictating and publicizing the boundaries of her percieved social group indicates that nothing like that has ever happened to her.
