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Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in 2007, when the
VlogBrothers
Vlogbrothers (sometimes stylized as VlogBrothers or vlogbrothers) is a video blog channel on YouTube. The Internet-based show is created and hosted by the Green brothers: John Green and Hank Green. The first incarnation of the brothers' online ...
(
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Hank Green
William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...
) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, whose followers are individually known as Nerdfighters. The term was coined when John saw a copy of the
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
''
Aero Fighters
''Aero Fighters'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter originally released in arcades in 1992 by ''Video System'' and was also released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It was the first in the ''Aero Fighter ...
'' and misread the title as ''Nerd Fighters''.
Hank Green describes it as "a community that sprung up around our videos, and basically we just get together and try to do awesome things and have a good time and fight against world suck". He defines "world suck" as "the amount of suck in the world".
[ The Greens established ]The Foundation to Decrease World Suck
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfighter ...
, in order to raise funds and launch projects that would help a variety of causes. Nerdfighters believe in fighting world suck, promoting education, freedom of speech and the use of the intellect in modern society. Nerdfighters and the Green brothers have collaborated on many projects such as the charitable drive, Project for Awesome
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfight ...
which launched in 2007, and VidCon
VidCon is an annual convention for fans, creators, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. In October 2020, VidCon Now relaunched as an ongoing, free digital offering. Vetera ...
, the convention focusing on topics surrounding the world of digital media. Nerdfighters have been documented by websites such as ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', and ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', with a following estimated to be in the millions.
Community topics
Nerdfighteria is known for its online collaborative nature: forums, spinoff blogs, meet-ups, and charitable events have been spawned by its members. Instances of the community collaborating can be observed in the creation of college campus groups at universities such as the University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...
, the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, and the University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. Another Nerdfighter club was founded at Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
, in which the members have stated their desire to do charity work with The Humane Society and This Star Won't Go Out.
The Nerdfighter subculture was able to force the release of the novel ''The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
'' five months early. Additionally, safety concerns caused by 5,000 fans crowding the stage at the 2014 Q&A tour at the Dolphin Mall caused the event to be shut down early.
Symbols and terminology
A prominent symbol in Nerdfighter culture is a double-handed gesture with crossed arms, with both hands in a v-symbol, similar to Star Trek's "Vulcan salute". Celebrities such as actor Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
and Olympian Jennifer Pinches
Jennifer McIlveen (née Pinches) (born 25 May 1994) is a retired artistic gymnast who competed for Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and subsequently for the UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team in the NCAA. In 2020, Pinches ...
have been documented demonstrating Nerdfighter hand gestures. The symbol has been referred to as a Nerdfighter "gang sign" or a "salute". Additionally, the initialism "DFTBA", standing for "Don't Forget To Be Awesome", is generally considered the motto of the community.
"World suck" is another word included in the Nerdfighter vocabulary, which refers to unfavorable things that occur in the world. To decrease "world suck", the Greens founded a charitable non-profit organization, in which Nerdfighters collaborate to promote social activism.[
]
Meetups
The collaborative nature of the Nerdfighter community has resulted in meetups, sometimes involving the Green brothers. In 2008, the Greens held an event in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, which proved to be a turning point for both the Green brothers, as well as Nerdfighteria. Hank recalled the event as the first time he could sell his music, as well as a precursor for DFTBA Records
DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company now focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube content ...
.[ John added to his brother's comments, stating, "This was also the first time I met Rosianna, who is now my assistant, and the first time we really understood the power of nerdfighter gatherings, and it happened at the ]Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...
, one of the first places to get behind my novels in a big institution-wide way, and wow, what an important day in our lives."[ The event would be the first of several meetups within the community, as the Greens founded ]VidCon
VidCon is an annual convention for fans, creators, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. In October 2020, VidCon Now relaunched as an ongoing, free digital offering. Vetera ...
, which was first held in 2010, attracting 1,400 in attendance.
Censuses and Surveys
The VlogBrothers enjoy connecting to their audience and community, which sometimes involves the use of surveys.
In 2013, Hank Green began an annual "Nerdfighter Census". The census survey is hosted on SurveyMonkey
Momentive Inc. (formerly SurveyMonkey Inc.) is an experience management company that offers cloud-based software in brand insights, market insights, product experience, employee experience, customer experience, online survey development, and a s ...
, and its results are analyzed by Hank. In 2014, over 100,000 people filled out the survey. Hank discovered that 72% of the responders are female, 85% are non-Hispanic white, as well as mostly American between the ages of 13 and 30.[
]
Charity events and activism
A key component of the Nerdfighter community is the involvement with charity events and fan activism Fan activism involves “forms of civic engagement and political participation that emerge from within fan culture itself, often in response to the shared interests of fans, often conducted through the infrastructure of existing fan practices and r ...
. Events such as Project for Awesome
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfight ...
, have allowed a way for Nerdfighter involvement with charitable actions.
Nerdfighters work closely with another group that promotes community activism, the Harry Potter Alliance
Fandom Forward (formerly The Harry Potter Alliance) is a nonprofit organization that was initially run by ''Harry Potter'' fans but that has since expanded to include members of various fandoms. It was founded by Andrew Slack in 2005 to draw at ...
. Nerdfighteria and HPA were able to raise $123,000 for Partners in Health
Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim.
Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of de ...
, enough to send five cargo planes to Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, as a way to assist the citizens of Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
Kiva.org Nerdfighters
Nerdfighters are the third largest community of lenders to Kiva.org
Kiva (commonly known by its domain name, Kiva.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that claims to allow people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 count ...
, a non-profit organization which helps people lacking access to traditional banking systems by granting loans to them.[
Various instances of micro loans from Nerdfighters funding entrepreneurs in developing countries have been documented. Overall as of November 2022, more than 44,000 Nerdfighters have loaned a total amount of $20.2 million, ranking #4 all-time across all teams on Kiva.org. Exercising the interactive nature of the community, the Greens made a deal of sorts with Nerdfighteria: to have the community reach over $1 million in funds donated to Kiva before the Greens reached 1,000 videos on their VlogBrothers channel. Nerdfighters were able to accomplish this feat.
]
Project for Awesome
A major event in the Nerdfighter community is Project for Awesome
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfight ...
. The event, initially known as the "Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome", launched in 2007, and occurs annually in December. On the topic of the overwhelming amounts the event has been able to raise, Hank has stated "YouTube was caught pretty off guard by the first P4A, but ever since then they've been hugely supportive." During Project for Awesome, people post videos advocating for worthy charities, and the Nerdfighter community votes for the charities they believe are most deserving of funding.
In 2014, this system was modified so that money raised on the first day goes to Save the Children
The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
and Partners in Health
Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim.
Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of de ...
, and money raised on the second day goes to the community chosen organizations. This change was enacted so that wealthy charities feel comfortable donating to P4A and to ensure that some charities are reputable charities who are known to do a great deal of good. The first-day recipients in the 2015 campaign were Save the Children and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
.
AFC Wimbledon
Aside from charity drives, Nerdfighteria also offers funding and support for AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
, a third-tier football club in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Ad revenue from John's videos on the Green brothers' YouTube gaming channel, Hankgames, go to sponsoring and supporting the football club.
In January 2014, John Green became an official sponsor of the club, and later in the year the Greens' sponsorship led to a Nerdfighter logo design, with the DFTBA catchphrase being featured on the club's kits. In 2015, AFC Wimbledon was drawn to play a match against Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
, who John has been a longtime fan of. Green flew to London to spectate the game in person. One of the spectator stands at Wimbledon's now-former stadium, Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2,2 ...
, was named after John at the start of the 2015–16 season.
In April 2016, John announced he would be making a "docudrama" with "comedic moments" about the story of AFC Wimbledon, set to be distributed by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
This Star Won't Go Out and Esther Day
Another non-profit foundation associated with the community is This Star Won't Go Out, founded by Wayne and Lori Earl, in memory of their daughter, Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
. The name of the foundation stems from the fact that "Esther" means "star" in Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. The program itself provides funds and assistance to families of children with cancer.[ Esther Earl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006, and, before her death in 2010, developed a bond with the VlogBrothers and the Nerdfighter community. John Green and Earl met and bonded at a ]Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
conference in 2009. She would be involved with Nerdfighteria and YouTube, as she was a vlogging personality, until her death on August 25, 2010, at the age of 16.
Shortly before her death, on August 2, 2010, the day before her 16th birthday, John uploaded a video in preparation for "Esther Day", which would be celebrated the following day. Earl stated she wanted the day to be about "family and love".[ Two days following her death, the VlogBrothers made a video titled ''Rest In Awesome, Esther'', remembering her and all of her contributions to the Nerdfighter community, as well as the world. Nerdfighteria continues to keep her memory alive through her foundation, as well as Esther Day, which is celebrated each year on August 3.][ John Green states that Esther Day is the "most important holiday in Nerdfighteria," and that Esther, herself, has become a hero in the community.
Earl would later be known as an inspiration for the main character Hazel in John Green's novel '']The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
'', as well as its film adaptation.
References
{{VlogBrothers
Articles containing video clips
Green brothers
Internet-based activism
Internet-related activism
Internet culture
Nerd culture
Subcultures
2000s in Internet culture
2010s in Internet culture
2020s in Internet culture