Nerds vs. Geeks, the age old battle. These words are often used interchangeably; however, in today's culture, they can be used to mean two completely different things. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines nerd as, "a person who is very interested in technical subjects, computers, etc." verses the definition of geek, "a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity." Both of these words have evolved over time from their similar definitions to mean very distinct things in today's culture both with their own connotations.
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A nerd or a geek back in the 60s and 70s were seen as the weirdos and the unpopular ones who were interested in technology and comic books. Now it is a known fact that the nerds run the world as scientists and C.E.O.s, but what happened to the geeks?
Are geeks simply disappearing into the woodwork or are they emerging and becoming a part of culture in their own right? I think that it is the latter. It is easy to see this shift in thinking as we look at popular movies, TV shows and books. What was once geeky (ie. reading comic books, fantasy novels and dressing up as your favorite characters (Cosplay)), is now becoming the norm among teenagers and young adults. So much so that often two different fandoms: A term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest, will be mixed together.
This shift in the younger generation is beginning to infiltrate through society with multi-million dollar movie franchises based around the same comic books that used to get geeks into trouble. There are events such as Comic Con that draw as many as 127,000 people (as of 2015) and other "cons" all based around their own specific fandom. These fandoms stretch beyond comics and expand to include things such as Doctor Who, Disney, Anime, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and many more.
These many different subcultures, filled with people from all over and many different walks of life, are uniting people under one flag. The flag of being a geek and being proud of it. You can be in as many different fandoms as you want and branch out and meet new people who share your same interests. This uniting of individuals happens because anyone and everyone can be a geek and can fangirl about the same Doctor, Superhero, Youtube Star or Anime Character.
