Wednesday, September 25, 2013

With A Little Help From My Friends (Online Geek Groups)




If my existence doesn't already prove it to you, yes, there are others like you out there!

Hard to believe, I know!

Truth be told, I didn't really feel like a true blue geek until I joined an online group where there were a whole bunch of other geeks just like me. I not only got to share my own interests and opinions with a bunch of like-minded people, but being part of a real community introduced me to even more amazing and geeky things. That's how I got into vlogging, which has really given me a sense of pride about all the unique interests I have that I share with a good amount of people.

You might have friends that you know In Real Life (IRL) that share in the same interests in you, and if you do, than that's great!



You Get To Be Weird Together! :D

And I totally get it! I personally have friends that are a kooky bunch of weirdos just like myself. We all have interests that are similar or different and we get along great and bond over our weirdness all the time.

As for the rest of you that find this to be the norm...


FEAR NOT!

Believe it or not, there are other weird, geeky people to connect with, even if they don't live within walking distance of you.

Today I've going to go over just a small number of the popular online groups that I know to be out there. One of them I am a proud member of, and the other two I am not myself involved with but have heard various glowing reviews from each. One of them is meant strictly for girls, another is completely gender neutral, and the final one is directed towards girls but boys are both welcome and encouraged to join.

So here is the master list, and we'll get to tackling them in order. Click on the names for a direct like to the site:




So let's start with Wonderly.



You may have seen this trailer on YouTube in the past, depending on what sorts of web series you tend to gander at in your spare time.

Most of the current members of Wonderly have their own channels on YouTube, both separate or connected to Wonderly. You might recognize Kristina Horner from a few things including her role in the series Job Hunters, and there is also the series Squaresville involved with the site, along with the woman behind Overly Attached Girlfriend.

So this site is directed towards female geeks with a varied spread of tastes, hobbies and interests, and there's plenty of ways to get involved. It appears to be quite the close-knit community of ladies, all of them quite passionate about the things they love, such as crafting, cooking, reading, and so much more.

Their main connection to each other is through video, so if you're the type that feels too shy to sit and record yourself with a camera, this site might look a bit intimidating. However, it says right on the site that "While video is our common ground, you and we are so much more. We're talking about putting pen to paper, making music, cooking, drawing, painting, dreaming, and doing."

These guys have a lot going on, so if you're a geek girl that has a knack for creativity, I recommend you taking a nice long look at their website.

Now let's look at the Nerd Fighters.



So, this video is a good introduction to Nerd Fighter culture. And if you want to know anything about Nerd Fighters, first I'll give you a quick intro to John and Hank Green.

Better known as the vlogbrothers, these guys are in fact brothers and they post video rather frequently on YouTube and have been doing so now for many years.

They not only post videos covering various subjects regarding nerdom/geekdom, life and other awesome things, but they have a lot of other projects credited to them, things like VidCon, a convention about web video in the states, and an annual charitable event called Project Awesome.

A large fan base has surrounded many of their creations, such as John Green's Young Adult books, one of those being The Fault in Our Stars which is currently being made into a movie, along with the Emmy Award-winning web series that was originally Hank's brain child and has taken off considerably since then, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries



((I'm semi-obsessed with this series, so I HAD to post a video up here))

So if you watched the vlogbrothers video above, you'll know that all it takes to be a Nerd Fighter is to want to be one! So congratulations to anybody who saw the video and had the slightest urge to join in, you are now a proud member, myself included!



Okay, video overload, I know, but videos are so fun!

Alright, now time for the group that I have been a proud member of since April, and that would be the International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club, also known as the IGGPPC



So I'm going to do my best not too be too biased with my description here, but I have to say that I really do love this group of girls and it's helped me to meet a lot of amazing people.

Now, this group was founded fairly recently, as you can see from the video, and there are four main girls heading this organization of geekiness. One of them, SparklegirlJen, is actually Canadian and lived in the same city as me for a time, now I believe she lives about an hour or two away. She's very down to earth and we occasionally chat on twitter.

What sets this site apart from a lot of other geek groups is that you can sign up for your very own pen pal! You put in your top 5 geek loves, and your age, and you get matched with somebody based on having similar interests. I received my own pen pal in round 3, and we have been writing each other (yes, I'm taking good old fashioned Snail Mail) ever since. There are rounds set up every month to get a pen pal, and both membership and getting a pen pal are completely free, although you can pay a small fee to get into a V.I.P group in order to get early access to signing up for a pen pal, since it does tend to fill up each month. Even with the large number of members, however, so long as you're not trying to sign up the day before the round closes, you shouldn't have difficulty getting in.

And you don't need to sign up for a pen pal in order to be a part of this group. Another big focus on the main IGGPPC site is the forums, where geek girls (commonly referred to as iggles) and guys (miggles) can chat about anything and everything! It's an easy way to connect with people, seek recommendations on new things you can try, and much more!

The forums aren't the only way to get involved with the IGGPPC community, however. On the activities tab on the site there are many other opportunities to become involved, such as an iggle book club on GoodReads, Igglebugs for people that enjoy photography, a traveling journal you can have sent to you, and of course the Vlogging Iggles, of which I am a proud member.



Joining this group of Vlogging Iggles gave me a fun way to connect with other people like me, as well as introduced me to a great group of girls that I regularly get to message on Facebook. We even send mail to each other on occasion.

So that's about it for online geek groups! I'm sure that there are many more, and if you know of any or belong to any other groups that I may not have heard of, please let me know over twitter or in the comments section below.

I hope you guys found this informative, or if you were bored the entire time than I'd like to know that too.

I'll leave you guys with a few questions before I go:

#1: Are you a member of any of these groups? If not, would you ever consider joining in and connecting with people from any of these groups? Why or why not?

#2: What kind of geeky interests would you like to have friends, either IRL or online, share in common with you?

I think that's it for now! Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

~ 4EvaGeek

1 comment:

  1. #1: Are you a member of any of these groups? If not, would you ever consider joining in and connecting with people from any of these groups? Why or why not?

    I'm a proud Vlogging Iggle as well. (Of course you already knew that lol) Of course that means that I am a proud member of IGGPPC with my very own penpal all the way from Singapore.

    #2: What kind of geeky interests would you like to have friends, either IRL or online, share in common with you?

    Most of my friends have all kinds of interests. As long as one person isn't putting another down because of their geeky love, we all get along fabulously.

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