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:
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.
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.”
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.”
The third most frequent reason for sharing stories was because they were motivational or inspirational, educational, or funny.
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!”
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 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:
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.
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.”
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.”
“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…”
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:
With the aim to find common values, I asked participants to name all the values they shared with the Nerdfighter community. Participants responded to this question by listing both moral values and interests they find valuable.
Word Cloud of Values
Word sizes represent the frequency of value mentions in participant responses.
As it can be seen in the word cloud, the first three more shared values are Knowledge, Enthusiasm and Acceptance. The code Knowledge was used anytime a participant mentioned the idea of valuing intelligence, free thought, science, the pursuit of knowledge, and similar ideas.
The code “Enthusiasm” was used any time a respondent made a reference to “being enthusiastic about things”. It must be pointed out that Nerdfighters define being a nerd as being someone who is “overly enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.”
“A philosophy of the Nerdfighter community is to live to try to decrease World Suck, which means to do positive things and have a positive impact on the world. No matter how big your actions are, the fact that you're taking such actions is important.”
Finally, acceptance was a value people cited as such almost every time. Those who expanded on this value explained that acceptance referred to both acceptance of oneself and acceptance of others. This particular value is very significant to this community, as acceptance of people’s peculiarities is one of the ideas that bring this community together. The Nerdfighter community is so significant to its members because it accepts and celebrates people’s differences.
“Respect for individuals, their identity, dignity, well-being, and all other things in between. Love of things which are odd and interesting, and a genuine enthusiasm for life no matter its condition.”
Other values that are significant and unique to this community are those of Decreasing World Suck and Increasing Awesome. These two values are part of the general aims of this community, and the responses showed that they are widely recognized by members as part of the essential values.
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:
The first question I asked participants aimed to get information about what participants consider member activities to be. Content analysis allowed for a frequency count of member activities reported. These can be seen in the graph below.
The first thing that stands out is that members reported many different types of activities, which means that the idea of participation differs from member to member. I classified the activities reported as follows:
Watching videos and following main social media accounts. These activities don’t reflect an emotional connection or the existence of shared values, but they reflect personal relatedness (part of the definition of membership.)
The most reported activity by participants was “engaging with Nerdfighters”, a code used every time a respondent reported actively communicating with other Nerdfighters or having relationships with them. Many participants mentioned they were part of a specific Nerdfighter Facebook group specialized by location or interest. Others simply reported they had Nerdfighter friends. Moreover, some respondents reported that part of their activities included meeting Nerdfighters “in real life.”
“ I discuss the topics given, support other members of the community through tough spots, watch the videos and turn to my Nerdfighter family when I need support and guidance.”
The next activity included was labeled “Gatherings and Events”, which refers to any mentions of attending official Nerdfighter meet-ups, which are events of various sizes organized by members that happen all over the world. Lastly, this category also includes those activities that reflect active interactions that occur thanks to the technological affordances of the specific social media sites visited by the Nerdfighters. This includes “Comments” and “Reblogs”. It also includes “Debate and/or Share”, which refers to actively participating in the sharing and discussion of ideas with other Nerdfighters online.
“I comment on Vlogbrothers videos and purchase content made for fans of the Vlogbrothers and the community. I contributed to forums for a while and have a few Nerdfighter friends who I discuss topics bought up in the videos and related materials at length on a semi regular basis.”
These activities reflect three particular dimensions from the variable sense of community. Membership is reflected because being able to develop relationships with others means that members feel a level of personal relatedness and of belonging. Needs fulfillment is reflected because the relationships that members develop within this community fulfill their social needs. And finally, Influence and Shared emotional connection is the construct that is most reflected by this activity, as members who actively engage with each other are necessarily influencing each other, while at the same time developing an emotional connection.
Activities in this category are not typically group activities, but individual ones. Nonetheless, respondents reported that they perform these different pursuits while in their roles as members of the community. These activities include reading and learning. Members reported these activities because they believe that part of what makes them Nerdfighters is that they are actually “nerds”, which in general terms means they enjoy intellectualism. The fact that these activities, which are usually solitary activities, are reported as part of the community activities is significant because it reflects a personal commitment members have to reflect what the community upholds.
“I watch the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel, the LBD channel, Sanditon channel, Mental Floss, and occasionally Crash Course. And SciShow. I also proudly wear my Keep Calm & DFTBA shirt and next year at university, I shall proudly display my Nerdfighter poster in my dorm room. I also share the videos with friends and encourage them to watch more videos and help spread the awesome. And I read and educate myself in the name of Nerdfighteria.”
These activities reflect Needs fulfillment, as participants’ personal need to learn or read are fulfilled not only by his or her own private actions, but also by the fact that they can share these deeds with others in the community.
The idea of “being awesome” as something one does as a member of the Nerdfighter community was another highly reported activity, in general explained as being a good, positive, and productive person.
“I watch the YouTube channels (especially Crash Course and SciShow), follow the Nerdfighters subreddit and John Green's Tumblr, read all of John's books, and have begun my own project of writing a poem every day, in order to increase my personal awesomeness.”
Even more passive members reported this personal behavior as a member activity:
“I'm not an active Nerdfighter. I often passively watch the videos, and don't comment. But being a Nerdfighter has changed and developed my critical thinking skills about the world around me. Everyday decisions I make and discussions I have are as a result of me celebrating my nerdiness because I'm a Nerdfighter.”
This activity mostly reflects Influence; in this case, members are influencing each other to becoming better people. It is also a reflection of Shared Values, as is further explored in this post.
Several fundraising activities were mentioned in this category, but although the Project for Awesome and the Kiva project were mentioned, they were not as extensive as expected (they were mentioned 12% and 8% of the times.)
This activity includes mentions of actively promoting or spreading the word about the community in order to involve more people. This activity reflects Influence, as members are influencing community growth with their actions.
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:
