Monday, February 20, 2017
NerdCon Nerdfighteria!
Happy to be participating in NerdCon this weekend! Amazing to think this community is ten years old...
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
The Key is Not to Forget to be Awesome
Hello and welcome! This is where I share the research I've done on the Nerdfighter community.
I’ve known about this community since 2008, and I’ve followed its trajectory and seen it grow and succeed for years. Inspired by its unique dynamics, I went to graduate school to study communication through new media. When it came time for me to do my master thesis, I decided to explore some of the aspects that makes this community so special.
Something that has always baffled me was the eagerness of Nerdfighters to participate in all types of activities for no reason other than being a part of the community. Ever since the beginning, whether it was happy dances, putting stuff on our heads, or raising and loaning thousands of dollars for excellent causes – if it was a Nerdfighter project, Nerdfighters would step up. What I wanted to know was why we are so compelled to participate. Is it a super strong sense of community alone, or is it that we have found a special way of communicating that turned out to be tremendously motivating?
My assumption was that it’s a mix of both. Yes, Nerdfighters have a super strong sense of community, but we also have a pretty cool way to communicate online – using narratives. My theory was that the Nerdfighter community has developed the ability to share relevant narratives with each other to the extent that members are continuously encouraging each other to participate in Nerdfighter activities.
Through a case study, in which I outlined the community’s history and then probed community members through an online survey, I collected data about members’ awareness of the community and its narratives, their sense of community and their participation in two specific activities.
In this blog, you'll be able to read more theory on online communities and narratives, the method I followed and the model I tested.
You can also learn more about the Nerdfighters through this series of posts, where I expand on key narratives for this community's culture, and in this other series, where I expand on the open responses I obtained from Nerdfighters through my online survey.
Narratives and Culture
What I found was that indeed, Nerdfighters have built a culture using narratives, and that in doing so, we have become very active community members. It turns out that those who identify specific narratives and tend to share them the most are more likely to participate in important activities than those who don’t. People who have a high sense of community and don’t share narratives are still likely to participate, sure, but those who take it upon themselves to keep narratives alive are the most active members.
When I talk about narratives or stories, I’m referring to a concept psychologist Jerome Bruner defines as “spoken or written accounts of connected events.” Very straightforward. What makes them special, though, is the way our brains use them. According to him, narratives tell a version of reality that is easier to accept, so we use them as instruments to construct reality in our minds. We accumulate them and use them to create mental models of how events relate to each other over time.
The fun part starts when we do this collectively – when we identify specific stories, share them within a group and interpret them together, we start creating a history, a tradition, and ultimately a culture.
So for my research, I asked Nerdfighters to name any stories that they thought had helped shape Nerdfighteria’s culture. I also asked for them to identify which of them they thought were the most important ones for this culture. In doing this, I wanted to see if people would collectively identify the same stories as “culture-shapers”, and I also wanted to see which type of stories would be better for this.
Three main narratives
Stories about the origins of the community
At least 20% of the respondents focused solely on stories about the origins of Nerdfighteria. For them, understanding how the community came to be was either the most important thing to know, or the only important thing to know.
“I think you need to understand how Nerdfighteria started. You need to be able to understand that we do what we do because we enjoy it, not because we want recognition or money or anything else.”
“The story of the origins of Brotherhood 2.0, I feel is essential because it gives you an idea of the spirit in which Nerdfighteria was founded. All others are icing on a delicious cake.”
Stories about individual Nerdfighters
Responses about this were great to read. People enjoyed stories about regular individuals who they could relate to achieving great things and inspiring so many people just by doing something they believed in.
Stories about John and Hank abounded, of course, and they were focused not only on them as the Vlogbrohters, but also on what each of them does individually. Still, regardless of what specific story about them was mentioned, there was always an element of how an individual Nerdfighter would relate to the larger community.
“I like that Brotherhood 2.0 started as a way for John and Hank to get to know each other better, but wound up changing their lives and the lives of so many others. I think that's a key part of the Nerdfighter culture: it's founded upon a desire to get to know other people, or as John would say, imagine them complexly.”
In that same line of thought, another answer that was commonly mentioned was about Esther Earl. People would talk about her by explaining what had happened but also by reflecting on how her story had affected the community.
“The one that immediately comes to mind is about Esther Earl and her friendship with John Green. The community really came together to rally around her and promote an environment of love. When she sadly died, the community continued to work in support of that ideal.”
Reading reflections like that made me realize that one of the reasons why this community is so solid and so unique is that we take the time to focus on each other as real people. We do not let our online community to remain online in the sense that we do see past each other’s usernames and avatars – we do our best to see people complexly.
Stories about Nerdfighters achieving great goals together
The third category of narratives that were identified the most and considered to be important for this community’s culture were those about Nerdfighters coming together for goals greater than us. Whether it was the Project for Awesome, the Kiva Lending Team, the Help Haiti Heal campaign, the This Star Won’t Go Out foundation, raising money for Water.org, or the Uncultured Project, people mentioned stories about these large fundraising and awareness projects over 60% of the times they talked about important narratives.
“The community really came into being through the original Brotherhood 2.0 videos, when the Vlogbrothers defined the terms: Nerdfighteria, Nerdfighters etc., when they made up the gang sign, and when they said what we stood for: people who instead of being made from cells are made of awesome. Also when they first started donating to charities, by small amounts at first and it eventually became the Project for Awesome. Philanthropy is a big part of Nerdfighters being awesome.”
The reason why stories about these projects were so important is that narratives tend to be more successful when they are about some kind of breach away from the norm. As one of the respondents has said, not many online communities could do the things Nerdfighters do, and that is why these stories stand out to us and we tend to keep them alive.
In this way, Nerdfighters have proven that the key to a cohesive, functional and unique community is, indeed, to not forget to be awesome
***
In this blog, you'll be able to read more theory on online communities and narratives, the method I followed and the model I tested.
You can also learn more about the Nerdfighters through this series of posts, where I expand on key narratives for this community's culture, and in this other series, where I expand on the open responses I obtained from Nerdfighters through my online survey.
From the Participants: Responses to open questions
This series of posts explores the answers to the open-ended questions from the online survey of this research. Through content analysis, I extracted the most recurrent, frequent and extensive themes and topics participants discussed in their responses. The results are summarized in these posts.
See analysis by theme:
Key Narratives
The narratives explored in this series of posts are the results of the pre-study I did with the aim of finding the most prominent themes and narratives that emerged throughout the first year of the Nerdfighter Community.
Each of these posts explores the stories and themes that are the basis to understand the culture of this community, its activities and overall atmosphere. Each post explains a theme or narrative that Nerdfighters have adopted as shareable stories through which they make sense of their culture.
The narratives:
Monday, June 9, 2014
From the participants: Essential Narratives
To get a sense of what kind of stories would be thought of as “essential” for the community’s culture by Nerdfighters, I asked participants to identify the most important stories.
Although the question did not mention anything about newcomers, participants interpreted this question to mean what stories would a newcomer need to understand the community. In this sense, most participants agreed that newcomers would benefit from understanding who the Green brothers were, why they make videos, the format of the videos, the type of relationships they have with the Nerdfighter community and the many inside jokes they all share. The most frequently named story was the Origin story, followed by inside jokes.
The third most frequent response was actually about how no particular story was needed for a person to understand the culture. This was explained through several reasons: some people felt any story would be good enough to understand the community; others thought the community could be understood through a “feeling”; and others thought that the most essential stories should be personal choices, not a collective ones.
“I think, as long as you know that this is a community founded on the idea of doing good things for others, and having a good time while doing so, that’s all you really need to know.”
Still, other participants felt that the community could not be reduced to stories, that it was more about the shared values.
“I think less “stories” and more understanding the basic principles of Nerdfighteria.”
“Mainly just the aim to decrease World Suck. The rest can be picked up, but that one is essential.”
This series of posts explores the answers to the open-ended questions from the online survey of this research. Through content analysis, I extracted the most recurrent, frequent and extensive themes and topics participants discussed in their responses. The results are summarized in these posts.
See analysis by theme:
From the participants: Sharing Stories
To get an insight into sharing practices, I asked participants to explain, if they had ever shared any of the aforementioned stories, why they had done so. The aim of this question was to understand why people would feel inclined to share these stories, to see if indeed the community’s culture was formed by narrative accrual.
The main reasons for sharing were: to explain (when asked about a story), to involve others, to share good content (that is either about making an impact in the world or that is personally significant), and for the emotional connection.
To explain
Ten main reasons were found why people would share stories about this community with others. The first one was to explain, which meant a respondent had shared information about a story because someone had specifically asked for an explanation.
“To help clear things up, sometimes it doesn't make sense why Hank or John might be doing something; someone in the comments will ask a question. Occasionally I answer it.”
To involve others
The next most frequent reason for sharing stories was to involve others, which meant participants had shared a story in order to invite more people to join the community. The following response illustrates this idea, and it is also a reflection of the idea that a community can fulfill social needs.
“I tutored a girl three years younger then me at my old school. She was being bullied badly, and felt left out. Her other peers weren't interested in being “smart” and cared more about being popular. She felt a lot like an outcast, like she just didn't belong. I've felt that way before and I know how terrible it feels. I thought introducing her to Nerdfighteria would introduce her to a community where she could be herself and feel like she belonged, and was important.”
Good content
The third most frequent reason for sharing stories was because they were motivational or inspirational, educational, or funny.
Personal value
The fourth reason most frequent reason for sharing was personal value. Participants explained that they share because “it’s important” to them, and so they share them because they are personally significant or because they feel proud to be part of the community.
“I think there’s something pretty special about being part of this community. Being able to call myself a Nerdfighter, even to someone who doesn’t really understand what that means, makes me feel like I’m part of something important. A community like this helps change the world, I think, even in some ways, by not ever forgetting to be awesome!”
They make an impact
Another popular reason for sharing stories was the idea that they are worth telling because they are about making some kind of impact in the world.
“I've told my parents and even others at my work about the way the community comes together to help others, usually to demonstrate how online and fandom communities come together for the greater good.”
An emotional connection
An emotional connection was another reason for sharing stories, as participants also reported that they share stories “to feel connected to the community” and “to create bonds with others.”
This series of posts explores the answers to the open-ended questions from the online survey of this research. Through content analysis, I extracted the most recurrent, frequent and extensive themes and topics participants discussed in their responses. The results are summarized in these posts.
See analysis by theme:
From the participants: Identified Stories – more narratives
In order to see if participants would, in fact, collectively identify the same stories as the most prominent ones, I asked participants to name any stories they thought had helped shape the community’s culture.
Fundraising projects
The most frequent type of stories mentioned were about fundraising projects. Participants emphasized that the stories of how Nerdfighters had developed these projects together were essential foundations of the community’s culture.
“The community really came into being through the original Brotherhood 2.0 videos, when the Vlogbrothers defined the terms: Nerdfighteria, Nerdfighters etc., when they made up the gang sign, and when they said what we stood for: people who instead of being made from cells are made of awesome. Also when they first started donating to charities, by small amounts at first and it eventually became the Project for Awesome. Philanthropy is a big part of Nerdfighters being awesome.”
“I think for sure the Project for Awesome is a big example. It's all about raising money for charities that we pick and it requires so much community involvement and every year we come together and do this really awesome thing to make the world a better place. Not many communities do that, or COULD do that, but we can and we do, and I think it helps reinforce what Nerdfighteria is allabout: helping people, making the world a little more awesome, and having fun while doing it.”
Esther Earl and This Star Won't Go Out
When discussing the ways in which fundraising projects shaped the community, respondents also brought up the This Start Won’t Go Out Foundation (TSWGO), the foundation that the family of Esther Earl (see below) started in support for children with cancer and that Nerdfighters continuously support.
“All of the projects that Nerdfighters and Hank and John do such as Project for Awesome, helping with This Star Won't Go Out […] the Nerdfighter Kiva group continuously giving more and more money in loans to people in developing countries.”
“Too many. Project for Awesome is a fantastic celebration that symbolizes what most Nerdfighters long to be like: caring, giving individuals making a difference in their world. Esther Day 2012 was celebrated here in Quincy, MA last August 3rd—hundreds of Nerdfighters, most who didn't know each other, showed up to celebrate this holiday of loving family and those close to us.”
The story of Esther was the third to be mentioned most. The recurrence and forcefulness of the comments that mentioned Esther Earl are evidence of the importance of this narrative in the Nerdfighter culture. Esther Earl was a Nerdfighter whose story is very significant for Nerdfighters because she was only sixteen years old when she passed away, but she shared a lot with the community through videos in the last year of her life. Esther spoke about the importance of love and family, and expressed that this was the lesson she wanted to pass on to others. After her death, every year on her birthday, Nerdfighters commemorate her memory by making a point of telling their loved ones they love them, and this is a holiday called “Esther Day”. Nerdfighters also show continuous support to the foundation her family founded, TSWGO.
The story of this young woman’s courage and wisdom is a perfect example of a breach of canonicity in narrative, as the way in which she decided to live the last year of her life break away from conventional children with terminal illnesses.
Respondents mentioned that part of the reasons why this story was so significant was because it brought attention to the fact the community goes beyond its online borders.
“John got to meet her and asked what she would like them to do. She responded with loving people who are close to you and ACTUALLY SAYING IT! Thus, Esther Day was born as a less cheesy Valentine's Day, but for family and friends and people you might not always say “I love you” to. This event and her life changed the Nerdfighter community for the better and it continues to do so. It has created an event specific to Nerdfighters, but can also be shared with everyone.”
“The life of Esther Earl and her impact on the Vlogbrothers helped to make the online community feel human. Because we are an online community, we do not often think about a member of the community dying, because it is online and the Internet is essentially undying.”
Inside Jokes
“The punishment set-up of Brotherhood 2.0 began to connect John and Hank more firmly with their viewers, turning them into an interrelated community.”
Another repeated topic among these answers was that of inside jokes. Two things are worth noting about the inside jokes. First, how widespread among the community they are, regardless of how old or obscure they may be. And second, the fact that they reflect the element of referentiality, which refers to the way in which we make sense of narratives by referencing components within a larger context. Inside jokes only make sense within the context of a culture, so the fact that they are so widespread is evidence to the fact that the culture of this community is prevalent in spite of its size.
Some of the respondents, when asked to identify important stories for the community’s culture, not only named the most prominent inside jokes but also reflected on their importance:
“This isn't necessarily a story, but understanding all of the silly little inside jokes is a huge part of who we are as a community. Not only are they a source of entertainment, but they also serve as a way to document our history.”
“There’s a lot of little stories that I think help embellish what Nerdfighteria is. You can simply give someone a definition of the community, but I don’t think they can understand how awesome it is without knowing about the inside jokes, French the Llama! Reading Johns amazing books, wondering about the Yeti, adding “your pants” after things, giraffe love, Hank humping things, the happy dance…”
Origin
The other stories that were mentioned frequently are the ones explored in this series of posts (labeled "narratives"), which were explored as part of the pre-study for this survey. These are stories that were labeled as “Origin stories”, as they refer to the community’s origin year.
This series of posts explores the answers to the open-ended questions from the online survey of this research. Through content analysis, I extracted the most recurrent, frequent and extensive themes and topics participants discussed in their responses. The results are summarized in these posts.
See analysis by theme:
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