Social media for the nerdy set
Review by Anna Sturla,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor-in-Chief–
Social media is on the vanguard, the bright new communication tools that spur real-life revolutions, deepen our accessibility and lend us profound and innovative ways to identify and connect with others.
Why then, are so many supposedly über-cool social media websites hijacked by nerds?
Now, the term “nerd” may be a little touchy, but, in the words of young adult novelist and nerd super-hero John Green, “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 too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.” Preach.
The HUB now gives you the list of the best social media sites for those of the nerd persuasion.
1. Tumblr.com
C’mon. This website was designed for nerds. Here’s the gist: Tumblr (pronounced TUM-bil-er) allows users to create a blog and upload their own content, including text, audio and video, while customizing their theme to fit whatever design the user likes. Pretty straight-forward so far, right? Tumblr differs from traditional blogging sites, however, in that users can easily follow other users’ blogs, like posts and reblog content. The result is a beautiful and diverse mish-mash from all the wide, wide world of nerddom. Posts and reposts often taking the form of extended and hilarious conversations, with users delving into the depths of their fandoms (followers of a TV show, film, book or book series, person, etc.). Also,Tumblr single-handedly made gifs a thing (pronounced “gif” or “jif”–just pick a side and stick to it), and for that, we will be forever grateful.
. Goodreads.com
This website is tailor-made for anyone who considers themselves vaguely aware of a printed alphabet. Goodreads allows users to check off all the books they’ve read and hunt for new ones while creeping on other people’s book profiles to see what they have finished reading, are reading or want to read. If the user signs in on their Facebook account, the site automatically links them up with their friends who already use the site, thus greatly expanding the arena of Facebook-stalking. The best part of the initial novelty factor (yes, there is one) is the initial shock at seeing that one jock guy you know and–who guessed it–he’s surprisingly well-read
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3. YouTube.com
Okay, okay, hear us out. We all know YouTube is primarily a purveyor of panda sneezes, distributor of dumb trick-videos-gone-wrong and dealer of dog…er, cat videos. So what do nerds have to do with this often less-than-cerebral website? Well, as with many-a-lunchroom cafeteria, the nerds have firmly established and defended their corner against all comers, and the result is a whole bevvy of hilarious, intelligent and often touchingly personal channels. At the helm is likely the aforementioned young novelist John Green, along with his brother and successful science journalist Hank. Their channel, Vlogbrothers, is a bi-weekly exchange between the brothers as they discuss, rant and teach each other about such a diverse range of topics as Harry Potter, the nature of optimism, celebrities and how to be a nerdfighter. The last one refers to the large following of the brothers, referred to as “Nerdfighteria,” whose mission in life is to decrease worldsuck by particpating in nerd-related conventions, websites, projects and life in genera. Nerdfighteria, according to the channel, also apparently ranks higher in population than most countries.
