What are your thoughts on how geek culture has become mainstream in the last 10-15 years? Even as recently as the 90s, comics were still pretty niche, video games were considered either a kid's toy or nerdy depending on the system, stuff like LOTR and high fantasy was basically considered nerdy.

I feel on one hand that it's nice to have easier access to all of this, but on the other hand, somehow this stuff being socially acceptable makes it less special; if everyone is reading a comic or watching a fantasy film it takes away from having your own little special clique of people who were joined by that niche love.

With gaming, it's definitely becoming too mainstream unless you're a Nintendo fan, comics while acceptable it's still mostly nerds that are into it, Anime the same thing. It also depends on where you live, if you live in a large metro area then you might see a more strong fandom of fantasy culture with comic-con whereas in small towns it's a bit harder to find a strong geek community.

What are your thoughts on how geek culture has become mainstream in the last 10-15 years? Even as recently as the 90s, comics were still pretty niche, video games were considered either a kid's toy or nerdy depending on the system, stuff like LOTR and high fantasy was basically considered nerdy.

I feel on one hand that it's nice to have easier access to all of this, but on the other hand, somehow this stuff being socially acceptable makes it less special; if everyone is reading a comic or watching a fantasy film it takes away from having your own little special clique of people who were joined by that niche love.


It takes nothing away from me. I love the mainstreaming of geek culture. In the 90s, geek culture was such a snobby, socially inept guys club (no offense to those who identify with that). It really needed some diversity of identities, opinions, and ideas. Geek culture is all the better for expanding.

It takes nothing away from me. I love the mainstreaming of geek culture. In the 90s, geek culture was such a snobby, socially inept guys club (no offense to those who identify with that). It really needed some diversity of identities, opinions, and ideas. Geek culture is all the better for expanding.
True, I'm glad to live an era where geek culture is more accepting.

I've always liked geeks, or guys who were more intellectual.
I'm very smart and I get annoyed quickly if the guy is an idiot. At least "geeks" can engage me in talks that are complex, even if it is just the inner workings of the Death Star.

I've always liked geeks, or guys who were more intellectual.
I'm very smart and I get annoyed quickly if the guy is an idiot. At least "geeks" can engage me in talks that are complex, even if it is just the inner workings of the Death Star.


And then, Geek culture was eventually bound to happen in the mainstream.

F-Iz1wRR01c

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the state of geek culture in the 2010s. And I hate to burst everyone's bubble (like I don't do enough of that anyway *sarcasm*), but the current state of geek culture is likely to be temporary like all trends. It's no different from the popularization of punks, goths, or emos in previous decades. Honestly when a subculture that was once overlooked suddenly becomes popular over the course of a few years, chances are that it's popularity won't last forever. Now that's not to say that I think people will go back to flushing geeks heads down toilets. That was already pretty cliched by like the 70s or 80s. No, I think in the future geeks will be in a similar place that they were in the 90s and 00s where they weren't persecuted, but the popular weren't actively trying to be "geeks", or trying to emulate stereotypical quirky hipster geek behavior, but ultimately becoming an annoying cliche in the process. Things were more balanced in the 90s and the 00s, where people could enjoy "geeky" stuff, but not try to actively be something that they weren't.

What's going on now in the 2010s is NOT a celebration of individuality or uniqueness, but rather another component of the "one size fits all culture". You look at people nowadays and they adopt the same fashion trends, the same taste in things, and even the same speech patterns (annoyingly enthusiastic and taking pride in being awkward, and looking totally fake in the process). Nowadays you have only a few types of people, trendy "geeks", metrosexual hipsters, and dudebro trap-rap thugs. And a lot of times, these groups intersect, so they are all indistinguishable from each other. For example all these groups may wear undercuts with those thick-framed glasses, or may sport an ironic/meme/quirky t-shirt to make themselves seem cleverer than they actually are, or wear some trashy snapback (and other trap/dudebro attire), or have a bunch of visible tattoos. Either way, these are the people that are dominant in this decade. If you don't fit into any of these categories (or a mixture of them), you will be an outcast in the current climate.

F-Iz1wRR01c

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the state of geek culture in the 2010s. And I hate to burst everyone's bubble (like I don't do enough of that anyway *sarcasm*), but the current state of geek culture is likely to be temporary like all trends. It's no different from the popularization of punks, goths, or emos in previous decades. Honestly when a subculture that was once overlooked suddenly becomes popular over the course of a few years, chances are that it's popularity won't last forever. Now that's not to say that I think people will go back to flushing geeks heads down toilets. That was already pretty cliched by like the 70s or 80s. No, I think in the future geeks will be in a similar place that they were in the 90s and 00s where they weren't persecuted, but the popular weren't actively trying to be "geeks", or trying to emulate stereotypical quirky hipster geek behavior, but ultimately becoming an annoying cliche in the process. Things were more balanced in the 90s and the 00s, where people could enjoy "geeky" stuff, but not try to actively be something that they weren't.

What's going on now in the 2010s is NOT a celebration of individuality or uniqueness, but rather another component of the "one size fits all culture". You look at people nowadays and they adopt the same fashion trends, the same taste in things, and even the same speech patterns (annoyingly enthusiastic and taking pride in being awkward, and looking totally fake in the process). Nowadays you have only a few types of people, trendy "geeks", metrosexual hipsters, and dudebro trap-rap thugs. And a lot of times, these groups intersect, so they are all indistinguishable from each other. For example all these groups may wear undercuts with those thick-framed glasses, or may sport an ironic/meme/quirky t-shirt to make themselves seem cleverer than they actually are, or wear some trashy snapback (and other trap/dudebro attire), or have a bunch of visible tattoos. Either way, these are the people that are dominant in this decade. If you don't fit into any of these categories (or a mixture of them), you will be an outcast in the current climate.
True, nerd culture may be mainstream but hip-hop culture is still dudebro machismo because of how popular it is with White Teens. 2010s culture is either metrosexual, steeet or hipster.