Be a Nerdfighter
Nerdfighters are people who, instead of being made up of cells and organs, are made up of pure awesome. The nerdfighter community arose from the videoblog project Brotherhood 2.0, with brothers John and Hank Green. Nerdfighters are also known to be fans of John's books and Hank's music.
The guide below is just advice on how to be aware of Nerdfighter culture; it is not obligatory to do any of those in order to be Nerdfighter. If you want to be a Nerdfighter, you are a Nerdfighter.
Steps
- Watch the videos made by John and Hank. Originally founded around John and Hank's Brotherhood 2.0, nerdfighters now continue to rally around vlogging. John and Hank (known as the "Vlogbrothers" on YouTube) currently post new videos every Tuesday and Friday.
- Read the books by the award-winning writer half of the duo, John. His books, including "Looking for Alaska", "An Abundance of Katherines", "Paper Towns", (with fellow author David Levithan) "Will Grayson, Will Grayson", and "The Fault in Our Stars". All of his books have received outstanding recognition.
- Listen to the music of the musical half of the duo, Hank. Hank has released three studio albums, 'So Jokes', 'This Machine Pwns N00bs', and 'Ellen Hardcastle'. For much of the project, Hank has posted a new song every Wednesday. In addition to performing, Hank is also the co-founder of the DFTBA record label.
- Learn the jokes and terminology that have cropped up in the nerdfighter community. This can only be truly achieved by watching their videos, and even then can be very confusing. The most important things to know, though, are the nerdfighter mantra ("Don't Forget To Be Awesome" - "DFTBA") and the nerdfighters hand sign.
- Decrease worldsuck, the primary goal of all nerdfighters. Do your part to fight all the things in the world that suck. Common causes taken up by nerdfighters include World Vision, Save the Children, and The Uncultured Project. Also, once a year, nerds band together to participate in the annual Project For Awesome, which contributes to hundreds of charities.
- Connect with other nerds, both in real life and via the Internet. Common virtual watering holes include 'The Ning', the nerdfighter forums titled "Your Pants", and YouTube comments sections. Nerdfighters also frequently meet up locally, with each other, and occasionally with John and/or Hank.
- Stay in touch with what's going on in 'Nerdfighteria'. The nerdfighter community is ever-growing and -changing, with new additions with every new vlog post. The best way to stay on top of what's going on is to subscribe the the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel, follow John and Hank on Twitter, and keep up with news and content from community sites such as the Eff Yeah Nerdfighters Tumblr.
Tips
- Don't get overwhelmed by the large and enthusiastic nerdfighter community. Everyone is very accepting, regardless of how new you may be.
- The easiest way to become a nerdfighter-- with all of the inside jokes and references-- is to watch the videos. Yes, all of them!
- Be on the lookout for fellow nerdfighters. They're out there, but many of them are quite shy in real life.
- Share nerdfighting with others in your life. Don't be afraid to recommend books, music, or even vlog posts to potential nerdfighters.
- The nerdfighter community isn't just fans of Vlogbrothers, there are also fans of other YouTubers, like WheezyWaiter, or Vihart.
Warnings
- Don't listen to the haters. Whatever they say, you can know that you'll always have a whole community of nerdfighting friends to support you.
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