Posted by Jennifer De Guelle
07/04/2009
This post was inspired by The Society for Geek Advancement and the Summer of Social Good Charity Fund’s joint initiative Global Geek Week
Revenge of the Nerds
If I learned anything from college or from the cult classic film Revenge of the Nerds it’s this, a properly motivated group of geeks is all you need to change the world.
If you are not already familiar with the film, a brief synopsis:
Freshmen computer science loving nerds are harassed by members of their collegiate Greek council made up mostly by jocks who control the school. After loosing their dorm rooms to the powerful but irresponsible elites the nerds fight back and through their spunk, ingenuity and outside-the-box thinking they beat the jock fraternity at their own game and become the new leaders of the Greek student council.
Life Imitates Art When Geeks Unite
Life imitates art as geeks have banded together in real life creating and using technology to level the playing field and agitate the old guard. So much so that they have created a cultural paradigm shift that imitates the film “Revenge of the Nerds”, geeks through their innovation have become the new “in crowd”. Dorks, brains, geeks, and NERDS as we were once called are now the new influencers. We have become the trendsetters, followed and admired by our former collegiate tormentors, jocks, cheerleaders, and the affluent Greeks alike. If you still doubt the power of geeks, consider Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page and Sergery Brin.
Looks, athletic ability and inherited wealth have become an antiquated legacy defeated by the age of information and the digital revolution. Web 2.0 and social media allow the strength of your ideas and the popularity of your information to determine your success and no longer is it televised by and for a select group but dispersed across the networks we have created; blogging, micro blogging, wikis, youtube, facebook and so on and so forth. Decades of geek oppression have motivated us to act but not corrupted our spirit of fairness or our intent to create a place where anyone with talent and new ideas can contribute.
Perhaps that is why we feel little pity for the Greeks in the film because not unlike the current public outcry against the unchecked political corruption and corporate greed that has thrust us into our current state of economic crisis, we have to wonder why we let them have so much power in the first place to influence us when their interests and intentions served to benefit only a small group of people they deemed worthy as elites.
On that note, Generation X and Y Geeks not only use the power of web 2.0 and social media to shatter the status quo, they use it to make a positive impact on society. Perhaps our high school and college years served the purpose of reminding us Geeks what it feels like to be disregarded by the popular crowd and it has instilled in us a general mistrust of elitism and mob mentality. Geeks through the force of their own invention now have the power and they are embracing their responsibility to give back, adopting the philosophy that to those who much is given, much is required.
Take for example the campaign launched this week by Mashable’s, “Social Media for Social Good” and Summer of Social Good charity fund, in partnership with The Society for Geek Advancement; together they have launched Global Geek Week which includes a week long competition to submit a “geek inspired” video entry through Youtube and encourages people to use Twitter as a platform for sharing thoughts and ideas on how geeks can change the world for the better by including the hashtag “#Geeks4Good” in your the text of your tweet.
Consider submitting your video entry or contributing via Twitter. Altruism and responsibility as a hip new alternative lifestyle doesn’t have to be the mantra of just us geeks, there is a geek inside everyone and now that it’s cool to do so, give in to your inner nerd because helping others ultimately benefits your life, geek or not.
Please read an excerpt from the following article by Mashable’s COO Adam Hirsch and consider how you can contribute your talent and ideas. Your success as a Nerd can help influence and promote the greater good and that is perhaps the sweetest Revenge a geek could ask for.
The Society for Geek Advancement and the Summer of Social Good charity fund are proud to announce Global Geek Week, including a week-long YouTube (
) video competition.
Submit your geek inspired video to the Global Geek Week YouTube Group for the chance to win two roundtrip main cabin tickets to anywhere Virgin America flies, with Gogo passes so you can use WiFi to blog about the experience. Our Judges, including Guy Kawasaki, Shira Lazar, Hank Green of Vlogbrothers, Marina Orlova of TooHotForWords, puzzle champion Wei-Hwa Huang and Lisa Donovan aka LisaNova, will pick and announce the winners on Friday.
In addition, all week long we’re encouraging you to tweet and share how geeks can change the world (include the hashtag “#Geeks4Good”). Donate and keep up-to-date with video submissions, check out the twittervision global #geeks4good map and more at globalgeekweek.com. “Embrace your inner geek and give back!”
AustinMSW's Virtual Food Drive
Blog With Intergrity
