If someone calls you a “geek”, should you be offended and haul off and punch them one or should you thank them?
A while back, designer Scott Johnson drew an entertaining illustration of “56 types of geeks”.
That illustration caused many to think and evaluate their own geek attitude, aspect and position.
Since then, we’ve had time to come to grips with our own personal geekiness or to develop totally new or uncategorized obsessions.
So again, 2011-style, we ask, “Are you a geek? If so, what kind?”
Take a moment to think long and hard about it.
There are many different types and grades of geeks.
Geekiness usually denotes a driving focused passion for specific things (usually trendy) and it does not necessarily denote mastery or expertise of that thing, although it can if you are a grade 1 geek.
You might not be exactly thrilled to be labeled a “geek”, but inside your heart of hearts, you know! The old stereotype of the pocket protector doesn’t apply anymore. A couple of good indicators might be folks with an “iPhone quick draw” move or packing iPads or misc. tablets to weekly meetings. A definite sign is frequent attendance at the local computer user group gathering.
So, if you cop to you Geekitude,then all that’s left to know is just what type of geek are you? And if so, of what grade or degree?
Types (a sampling):
- Grade A techy geek
- Gadget fiend
- Music/Media Lover
- Food Fancier
- Fashion Hound
- Blog/podcast gekks
- Web 2.0/Social Media Obsessed
- Trend Spotter
- Hackster
- Gamer/Fantasy
- Photog/Shutterbug
- Conspiracy Hound
- PC/Apple Fanboy
Grades:
- Blithering Idiot
- Extreme Novice
- Elite Expert
- Code Connoisseur
There are even “GeekSquads” that get paid to fix computers or build web pages for dependent clients. There are many other geeks endeavoring to become millionaires by designing and programming slick apps.
There is also a downside to being a geek. They don’t get any, nor do they care. The subject of their obsession might become obsolete or could suffer a tragedy if there system “goes down”. They can spend months or years mastering a new discipline and suddenly, poof, it’s passe. Another problem could be over saturation in your special area of geekiness. If everybody is doing it then you aren’t any different nor special and don’t stand out for your geek-centric behavior.
BTW: How does a geek say “sorry”? (Crl+Z)