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Nerdfighteria (/ˌnɜːrdfaɪˈtɛriə/NURD-fy-TERR-ee-ə) is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated onYouTube in 2007, when theVlogBrothers (John andHank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, whose followers are individually known asNerdfighters.[3] The term was coined when John saw a copy of thearcade gameAero Fighters and misread the title asNerd Fighters.[4]
Hank Green describes it as "a community that sprung up around our videos, and basically we just get together and try to do awesome things and have a good time and fight against world suck". He defines "world suck" as "the amount of suck in the world".[5] The Greens establishedThe Foundation to Decrease World Suck in order to raise funds and launch projects that would help a variety of causes. Nerdfighters believe in fighting world suck, promoting education, freedom of speech, and the use of the intellect in modern society.[6] Nerdfighters and the Green brothers have collaborated on many projects such as the annual charity fundraiserProject for Awesome and the digital media conventionVidCon.[7][8] Nerdfighters have been documented by websites such asThe Hollywood Reporter andThe Wall Street Journal, with a following estimated to be in the millions.[9][10]
Nerdfighteria is known for its online collaborative nature: forums, spinoff blogs, meet-ups, and charitable events have been spawned by its members.[11][12] Instances of the community collaborating can be observed in the creation of college campus groups at universities such as theUniversity of Maryland,Texas Christian University, theUniversity of British Columbia, and theUniversity of California, Los Angeles.[13][14][15] Another Nerdfighter club was founded atAuburn University, in which the members have stated their desire to do charity work withThe Humane Society and This Star Won't Go Out.[16]
The Nerdfighter subculture's outpouring of support helped convincePenguin Books to release the novelThe Fault in Our Stars five months early.[17] Additionally, safety concerns caused by 5,000 fans crowding the stage at the 2014 Q&A tour at theDolphin Mall caused the event to be shut down early.[18]
"What is a Nerdfighter? A Nerdfighter is a person who instead of being made out of, like, bones and skin and tissue, is made entirely of awesome."
A prominent symbol in Nerdfighter culture is a double-handed gesture with crossed arms, with both hands in a v-symbol, similar to Star Trek's "Vulcan salute". Celebrities such as actorBenedict Cumberbatch and OlympianJennifer Pinches have been documented demonstrating Nerdfighter hand gestures.[19][20] The symbol has been referred to as a Nerdfighter "gang sign" or a "salute".[21] Additionally, the initialism "DFTBA", standing for "Don't Forget To Be Awesome", is generally considered the motto of the community.[22]
"World suck" is another word included in the Nerdfighter vocabulary, which refers to unfavorable things that occur in the world. To decrease "world suck", the Greens founded a charitable nonprofit organization, in which Nerdfighters collaborate to promote social activism.[15]
Pizza John, a graphic representation of a mustachioed John accompanied by the word "Pizza", is a long-standing inside joke and symbol within Nerdfighteria. On December 1, 2009, John uploaded a video calledShaving for Pakistan in which he had a mustache for the last two seconds.[23] Nerdfighter Valerie Barr used this image to create the original Pizza John, amonochrome image of mustachioed John on a red background with the word "Pizza" underneath insans serif font. This image was made available as a t-shirt in 2010, and it remainsDFTBA Records' bestselling shirt.[24] Over the years, Pizza John has been remixed by community members in a variety of graphic styles and mediums.[25][26]Pizzamas is an annual community holiday and charity event that celebrates Pizza John.
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The collaborative nature of the Nerdfighter community has resulted in meetups, sometimes involving the Green brothers. In 2008, the Greens held an event inChicago, which proved to be a turning point for both the Green brothers, as well as Nerdfighteria.[27] Hank recalled the event as the first time he could sell his music, as well as a precursor forDFTBA Records.[27] John added to his brother's comments, stating, "This was also the first time I met Rosianna, who is now my assistant, and the first time we really understood the power of nerdfighter gatherings, and it happened at theChicago Public Library, one of the first places to get behind my novels in a big institution-wide way, and wow, what an important day in our lives."[27][28] The event would be the first of several meetups within the community, as the Greens foundedVidCon, which was first held in 2010, attracting 1,400 in attendance.[29]
In February 2017, the NerdCon: Nerdfighteria convention was held inBoston to celebrate Nerdfighteria's 10th anniversary.[30] The event included panels, live podcast recordings, signings, and music performances.[31]
In 2013, Hank Green began an annual "Nerdfighter Census".[32] The census survey is hosted onSurveyMonkey, and its results are analyzed by Hank.[33]
In 2014, over 100,000 people filled out the survey. Hank discovered that 72% of the responders were female, 85% are non-Hispanic white, as well as mostly American between the ages of 13 and 30.[32]
In 2021, the survey had 149,308 respondents. Hank commented that Nerdfighteria has gotten older, with about 25% of respondents over the age of 30 (compared to 5% in 2014).[34]
A key component of the Nerdfighter community is the involvement with charity events andfan activism. Events such asProject for Awesome, have allowed a way for Nerdfighter involvement with charitable actions.
Nerdfighters work closely with another group that promotes community activism, theHarry Potter Alliance. Nerdfighteria and HPA were able to raise $123,000 forPartners in Health, enough to send five cargo planes toHaiti, as a way to assist the citizens of Haiti following the2010 earthquake.[35]
Nerdfighters are the third largest community of lenders toKiva.org, a nonprofit organization that helps people lacking access to traditional banking systems by granting loans to them.[6][36]
Various instances of microloans from Nerdfighters funding entrepreneurs in developing countries have been documented.[37] Exercising the interactive nature of the community, the Greens made a deal of sorts with Nerdfighteria: to have the community reach over $1 million in funds donated to Kiva before the Greens reached 1,000 videos on their VlogBrothers channel. Nerdfighters accomplished this.[38] Overall as of May 2024, more than 44,000 Nerdfighters have loaned $23.4 million, ranking #4 all-time across all teams on Kiva.org.[39]
A major event in the Nerdfighter community isProject for Awesome.[40] The event, initially known as the "Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome", launched in 2007, and occurred annually in December until it was moved to February in 2021; the 2020 iteration was canceled due to the effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[41] Of the overwhelming amounts the event has raised, Hank has said, "YouTube was caught pretty off guard by the first P4A, but ever since then they've been hugely supportive."[42] During Project for Awesome, people post videos advocating for worthy charities, and the Nerdfighter community votes for the charities they believe are most deserving of funding.[43]
In 2014, this system was modified so that money raised on the first day goes toSave the Children andPartners in Health, and money raised on the second day goes to the community-chosen organizations.[44] This change was enacted so that wealthy charities feel comfortable donating to P4A and to ensure that some charities are reputable ones known to do a great deal of good.[45] The first-day recipients in the 2015 campaign were Save the Children and theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Aside from charity drives, Nerdfighteria also offers funding and support forAFC Wimbledon, a fourth-tier football club inEngland.[46] Ad revenue from John's videos on the Green brothers' YouTube gaming channel, Hankgames, go to sponsoring and supporting the football club.[47]
In January 2014, John Green became an official sponsor of the club, and later in the year the Greens' sponsorship led to a Nerdfighter logo design, with the DFTBA catchphrase being featured on the club's kits.[12][48] In 2015, AFC Wimbledon was drawn to play a match againstLiverpool F.C., who John has been a longtime fan of.[49] Green flew to London to see the game in person.[50] One of the spectator stands at Wimbledon's now-former stadium,Kingsmeadow, was named after John at the start of the 2015–16 season.[51]
In April 2016, John announced he would be making a "docudrama" with "comedic moments" about the story of AFC Wimbledon, set to be distributed by20th Century Fox.[52]
Another nonprofit foundation associated with the community is This Star Won't Go Out, founded by Wayne and Lori Earl in memory of their daughter,Esther. The foundation's name stems from the fact that "Esther" means "star" inPersian. The program provides funds and assistance to families of children with cancer.[6] Esther Earl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006, and, before her death in 2010, developed a bond with the VlogBrothers and the Nerdfighter community. She and John Green met and bonded at aHarry Potter conference in 2009. She was involved with Nerdfighteria and YouTube, as she was a vlogging personality, until her death on August 25, 2010, at age 16.[53]
On August 2, 2010, the day before Esther's 16th birthday, John uploaded a video in preparation for "Esther Day", which would be celebrated the following day.[54] Earl said she wanted the day to be about "family and love".[53] Two days after her death, the VlogBrothers made a video titledRest In Awesome, Esther, remembering her and all of her contributions to the Nerdfighter community, as well as the world.[55] Nerdfighteria continues to keep her memory alive through her foundation, as well as Esther Day, which is celebrated each year on August 3.[53] John Green has said that Esther Day is the "most important holiday in Nerdfighteria" and that Esther has become a hero in the community.[56]
Earl was an inspiration for the character Hazel in John Green's novelThe Fault in Our Stars, as well asits film adaptation.[6][8][57]
Pizzamas is a two-week community holiday and charity event that takes place each year in September. Limited-edition Pizza John-themed merchandise becomes available on pizzamas.com,[58] including many t-shirts designed by independent artists. Other Pizzamas merchandise has included stickers, blankets, rugs, guitar picks, tote bags, LED "neon" signs, and Chizza John (a decorative planter inspired byChia Pet). Starting in 2014, John and Hank also started celebrating Pizzamas by making videos back and forth every weekday like they did duringBrotherhood 2.0.[26][25]
Since its inception in 2008, proceeds from Pizzamas merchandise have raised about $1 million for charitable causes.[59]
In July 2023, John enlisted Nerdfighteria's help in a campaign to persuade pharmaceutical companyJohnson & Johnson (J&J) to allowgeneric versions of thetuberculosis drugbedaquiline to be produced, allowing increased global access to the drug.[60] The campaign was successful, and public pressure from the community caused J&J to announce its deal with theStop TB Partnership a week earlier than originally planned.[61][62]
In September 2023, John asked the community to organize in support of the "Time for 5" campaign started byDoctors Without Borders and the public health community four years earlier. The campaign calls forCepheid, an American molecular diagnostics company owned byDanaher Corporation, to lower the cost of its test cartridges, which are used to detect diseases including tuberculosis.[63][64] Some members of the Nerdfighter community created a central website called TBfighters,[65] and called the corporate office, sent emails and letters, and posted graphics andmemes on social media[66] urging Danaher to lower the cost.[67] One week later, Cepheid and Danaher announced a 20% price reduction for one of their TB test cartridges in high TB-burden countries, although the test used to diagnose the most severe form of TB remains at the same price.[68][69]
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