It wasn’t too long ago that a geek would be a used as a derogatory term, used to describe socially awkward figures that were only comfortable when sat in front of a computer, board game or maths equation with only likeminded people for company. It couldn’t have been further from the truth, and the geek’s time has come!
The modern geek has pretty much all but taken over the world, and the lines have been blurred between what is geeky and what is cool. It doesn’t really matter what you’re into as long as you enjoy it, but it is far more socially acceptable to be a self-confessed geek now than it was in the last few decades.
Even the things that were deemed ‘geeky’ have become ultra-cool in the new millennium. Video games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto have turned grown men into gaming geeks. Online games like Warhammer and World of Warcraft, which were always popular but quite marginal like a club that only a select few were allowed into, are now ultra-cool hangouts. The likes of Ozzy Osborne are turning up to promote World of Warcraft in TV adverts. If you have the Prince of Darkness on your side, what else do you need?
21st Century Geeks
The likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and every single person who works at Pixar can be viewed as a geek, but they’re also viewed as some of the coolest people in the world. Who wouldn’t want to work at Facebook, Apple of Pixar? Let’s face it, if you did, you’d be shouting it off the rooftops. You wouldn’t be hiding from jocks in the school canteen in case they found out that you liked Facebook.
The Social Network became one of the most popular films of recent times because it showed the world just how much the geek had gone from being holed up in dorms to conquering the business world. All while dressed in a hoodie and flip-flops, now that’s cool.
Technology has opened the door for geeks to take centre stage and show us what they knew all along: That they would one day rule the world! Look at Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They started Google in 1998 whilst at Stanford University. They had an idea and an unofficial slogan of “Don’t be evil!” Nearly 15 years later, can you imagine a world without Google? Nope. The geeks crossed the line and became cool.
Daley works with Gifts for Geeks to provide the proud geeks with all the online and offline games on the market. He is an avid fan of World of Warcraft and has been a Dungeon Master since 1981.
(CC) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com and bub.blicio.us.
