![]() To be a part of something that gives to others, while providing that sense of intimacy and inclusion that comes with creating and sharing a language and cultural identity with other people. This is what it means to be made of awesome in Nerdfighteria. It also the place where a teenage girl with cancer can live her last months sharing Youtube videos with thousands of interested and responsive viewers who could inspire a novelist and leave a legacy of support for the families of children with terminal cancer. But the Internet is not only a source of discrimination, bullying, and anonymous harassment. These kinds of online behaviors have left a lot of kids searching for compassion and understanding, looking for friends who will accept them and tell them they are loved. ![]() The cruelty is increased for users with a female-sounding name, who are 25 times more likely to receive malicious messages after putting content online. Stories of Internet bullying and harassment and isolation are common, and so too are the terrible consequences that result, including acting out in violence and suicide.Īccording to a PEW Study, 90 percent of teens have observed, and ignored, cruel behavior online. It’s easy to get lost there, where “30 kids can be one kid and no one knows it,” says Heitner. But for kids who’ve lived their entire lives in the years since the invention of the Internet, whose identities are intertwined with their online life-author Devorah Heitner calls them “digital natives”-the potential dangers of the Internet are compounded. The Internet can be a rough place for anyone. They are bringing kindness and empathy to the native environment of its teenage members-the Internet-a place that too often lacks both.Īccording to the Nerdfighters, there exists a certain amount of “world suck” that can be combated with “awesome.” Last year’s Project 4 Awesome, a Youtube-based fundraiser held in December, raised more than $850,000 in two days for Doctors Without Borders, Books for Africa,, Women for Women International, and many others organizations.īut the Nerdfighters are doing more than fundraising, sharing Youtube videos, and passing along in-jokes. But one can get a sense of the community by looking at their work. What does all this-suck and awesome and DFTBA-mean? Nerdfighters rarely spell things out with much clarity “We just want to make cool stuff with people we like,” John once said of the Nerdfighters. Part of being in Nerdfighteria means understanding the language, the hand-signals, and the countless inside-references. Nerdfighters are “made of awesome” and work together to “fight against world suck.” The motto is DFTBA: Don’t Forget To Be Awesome. This is the language of the Nerdfighters, and it is used wholly without irony. They inhabit a digital neighborhood they refer to as “Nerdfighteria,” and communicate in a language that may leave the uninitiated scratching their heads.Īccording to the Nerdfighters, there exists a certain amount of “world suck” that can be combated with “awesome.” To this end, Nerdfighters created the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, which every year holds The Project 4 Awesome, a fundraising competition to raise money for organizations decreasing suck around the world. So, what’s a “Nerdfighter” and why does Green wish he could have been one? Nerdfighters are a group of mostly teenagers who spend a lot of time on the Internet, especially Youtube, making videos and participating in their brand of social change, which includes everything from spreading anti-bullying messages to raising money for charities. ![]() John is one of the founders of the millions-strong online movement called Nerdfighters, and the author’s success (he once held four spots on the NY Times best seller list at the same time) and anticipation for the film belie not just Green’s popularity among teens, but also the desire for an earnest, emotionally gratifying Internet experience of the kind offered by the Nerdfighters. Those are the words of John Green, author of the number-one New York Times bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars, source of the film out this weekend. ![]() Nerdfighters are bringing kindness and empathy to the native environment of its teenage members-the Internet. “I’m proud to be a Nerdfighter in part because I wish so much I could have been one in seventh grade.”
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