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Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age

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Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2009 Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age Jason Tocci University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Tocci, Jason, "Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age" (2009). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 953. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/953 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/953 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age Abstract This study explores the cultural and technological developments behind the transition of labels like 'geek' and 'nerd' from schoolyard insults to sincere terms identity. Though such terms maintain negative connotations to some extent, recent years have seen a growing understanding that "geek is chic" as computers become essential to daily life and business, retailers hawk nerd apparel, and Hollywood makes billions on sci-fi, hobbits, and superheroes. Geek Cultures identifies the experiences, concepts, and symbols around which people construct this personal and collective identity. This ethnographic study considers geek culture through multiple sites and through multiple methods, including participant observation at conventions and local events promoted as "geeky" or "nerdy"; interviews with fans, gamers, techies, and self-proclaimed outcasts; textual analysis of products produced by and for geeks; and analysis and interaction online through blogs, forums, and email. The findings are organized around four common, sometimes overlapping images and stereotypes: the geek as misfit, genius, fan, and chic. Overall, this project finds that these terms eprr esent a category of identity that predates the recent emergence of "geek chic," and may be more productively understood as interacting with, rather than stemming from, dimensions of identity such as gender and race. The economic import of the internet and the financial successes of high-profile geeks have popularized the idea that nerdy skills can be parlayed into riches and romance, but the real power of communication technologies has been in augmenting the reach and persistent availability of those things that encourage a sense of belonging: socially insulated "safe spaces" to engage in (potentially embarrassing) activities; opportunities to remotely coordinate creative projects and social gatherings; and faster and more widespread circulation of symbols - from nerdcore hip-hop to geek-sponsored charities - confirming the existence of a whole network of individuals with shared values. The emergence of geek culture represents not a sudden fad, but a newly visible dimension of identity that demonstrates how dispersed cultures can be constructed through the integration of media use and social enculturation in everyday life. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Communication First Advisor Paul Messaris Keywords digital media, ethnography, new media, niche markets, fan studies, cultural studies, identity Subject Categories Communication Technology and New Media | Critical and Cultural Studies | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Other Communication | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Sociology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/953 GEEK CULTURES: MEDIA AND IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE Jason Tocci A DISSERTATION In Communication Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy 2009 JL Paul Messaris, Lev Kuleshov Professor Of Communication Supervisor of the Dissertation Katherine Sender, Associate Professor Of Communication Graduate Group Chairperson Dissertation Committee: John Jackson, Richard Perry University Professor Of Communication & Anthropology Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor Of Communication ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe thanks to a great many people who made this project possible. My committee members, John L. Jackson, Jr. and Joseph Turow, provided me with invaluable guidance in my approach and important considerations in my revision process. My dissertation chair and advisor, Paul Messaris, has been a consistently supportive and dedicated mentor in all matters academic and professional during my entire time at Annenberg, and especially so as 1 have worked on this project. This document is a more thorough, more relevant, and (I hope) more readable product thanks to them all. Several other members of the Armenberg faculty have had a great impact upon the development of my ideas, and upon my own development as a researcher. Thanks especially go to Katherine Sender and Barbie Zelizer, who helped oversee projects that came to be a part of this dissertation, and who taught me much of what I know about how to do this kind of research at all. This dissertation is also a product of the Armenberg School for Communication at large. The research trips that informed this dissertation, crisscrossing the country over a period of years, were made possible by the Armenberg School's resources. I am thankful for the work of Michael Delli Carpini, Joanne Murray, Beverly Henry, Deb Porter, Rich Cardona, Lizz Cooper, and others in the Annenberg community who make the school what it is, and provide an environment for students to grow. This dissertation is also a product of numerous interviews, information introduced to me by informants, and both regular and anonymous contributors to my blog, Geek iii Studies. I owe special thanks to Matt, Z., and Church for their contributions, insight, and many, many links. Many of my friends have also played a direct role in helping me see this project to its completion, but 1 would like to offer specific thanks to my colleagues in the Annenberg graduate program. Deb Lubken, Paul Falzone, and Moira O'Keeffe have especially helped in developing my ideas and keeping me on track. Those who beat me to the finish line, including Matt Carlson, Bill Herman, Lee Shaker, and Nicole Maurantonio, have also offered guidance that has made completing this work possible. Beyond the Annenberg School, of course, I cannot express how grateful I am to my parents and to the many other family and friends who have supported me personally during graduate school and this project. The list of loved ones who kept me sane during this project may be too long to print here, but my deepest gratitude goes to my friends and family for their continued emotional support, for letting me bounce ideas off them online and in person, and for inviting me sleep on their floors and guest beds (and even accompanying me from time to time) on my research trips. And, finally, 1 am grateful to Genevieve, who is very patient. IV ABSTRACT GEEK CULTURES: MEDIA AND IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE Jason Tocci Paul Messaris This study explores the cultural and technological developments behind the transition of labels like 'geek' and 'nerd' from schoolyard insults to sincere terms identity. Though such terms maintain negative connotations to some extent, recent years have seen a growing understanding that "geek is chic" as computers become essential to daily life and business, retailers hawk nerd apparel, and Hollywood makes billions on sci- fi, hobbits, and superheroes. Geek Cultures identifies the experiences, concepts, and symbols around which people construct this personal and collective identity. This ethnographic study considers geek culture through multiple sites and through multiple methods, including participant observation at conventions and local events promoted as "geeky" or "nerdy"; interviews with fans, gamers, techies, and self- proclaimed outcasts; textual analysis of products produced by and for geeks; and analysis and interaction online through blogs, forums, and email. The findings are organized around four common, sometimes overlapping images and stereotypes: the geek as misfit, genius, fan, and chic. V Overall, this project finds that these terms represent a category of identity that predates the recent emergence of "geek chic," and may be more productively understood as interacting with, rather than stemming from, dimensions of identity such as gender and race. The economic import of the internet and the financial successes of high-profile geeks have popularized the idea that nerdy skills can be parlayed into riches and romance, but the real power of communication technologies has been in augmenting the reach and persistent availability of those things that encourage a sense of belonging: socially insulated "safe spaces" to engage in (potentially embarrassing) activities; opportunities to remotely coordinate creative projects and social gatherings; and faster arid more widespread circulation of symbols - from nerdcore hip-hop to geek-sponsored charities - confirming the existence of a whole network of individuals with shared values. The emergence of geek culture represents not a sudden fad, but a newly visible dimension of identity that demonstrates how dispersed cultures can be constructed through the integration of media use and
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