Geek As Citizen

Geek As Citizen: Marketing, Games, And Our Un-Separate Culture

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PuzzlePieces

Some time ago I was introduced to the article “No Girls Allowed” by Tracey Lien. It looked at why video games were considered “for boys” and the cultural and economic forces behind that attitude.

The article is well worth reading, but a thing that stands out is that there’s one huge factor in this issue – and many issues of gender divides – and that’s Marketing and the audiences it choses to pursue. Lien focuses on the role of marketing in our lives – and in how it can affect attitudes about gender. She chooses the geeky area of video games to do it.

Games were deliberately marketed to a male audience years ago. Now today, this has become a social norm, a social assumption – and one you see in geek culture and in people’s discussions of geek culture.

We, the geeks, got “normed” by people trying to sell games.

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Geek As Citizen: History, Posterity, and Our Terrible Past Creations

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Previously I had focused on the value of publishing and republishing our past works (mostly focusing on the written word), and on helping others publish their works. I consider this an excellent example of geek citizenship as we organize information that others may find of use, review past work, and assist and empower others. If you’ve done any kind of writing over the years you know it’s power to reach people – to organize it’s access and help others do the same just lets more people benefit from someone’s creations.

However in my past work I was referring to things that would actually benefit people directly. Things we would be proud of and share gladly. Things that in short, we consider good works, even if they may be a bit rough around the edges.

The problem comes when dealing with things we’ve created that aren’t that good – or downright terrible.

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Geek As Citizen: Geeks In Power

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When I last posted on geeks and the virtues of tolerance (and indeed how it fit both geeks as people and culture), Tony of Manga Therapy said bigotry happened when people were in positions of power, and we had to ask how long it may last. I wanted to address issues of Geeks and Power separately in this column. Thanks Tony!

Geeks wield a lot of power in modern society.

We are the masters of technology. We code the software that runs things. We perfect the materials that make structures and vehicles. We even address the problems other technology has created (an irony to address another time, perhaps)

Our popular culture is now mainstream in books and movies, even if too often ideas familiar to us are draped over standard tropes and frameworks. Videogames are bigger than Hollywood. Studios hunt the next big thing and it’s often science fiction, or supernatural, or the like.

To be frank, I still think this comes as a bit of a shock to those of us who are geeks, and those of us who are part of geek culture. It just seems to have appeared – and though yes, we can trace it’s evolution, it’s still a bit surprising if only due to its rapidity. I can’t quite imagine telling my self twenty years ago about the things I see now and have it being believable.

But here we are. Able to code applications, run giant companies, design new products, and create new media sensations. As technical companies extend their lobbying power and gain influence we become more emeshed in politics; and as issues of technology infiltrate all parts of our lives, we become emeshed as well.

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