The Fluctuating Coolness of Geekdom
~softwarepagan
------------------------------------------------------------------
I know I've written quite a bit about "geek culture" on here in the
past, but it is a phenomenon I find myself thinking about a lot, as
I feel I had a front-row seat to the entire odyssey that was the
rise and fall of geek culture. Before the 2000s, every part of geek
culture was considered deeply uncool, both the aesthetic and
cultural aspects as well as the . However, in the late 2000s and
into the early-to-mid 2010s, it seems geek culture enjoyed a brief
window of being THE cool thing (see: Felicia Day's song "Now I'm
the One That's Cool).

At some point in the mid 2010s, however, only the most
surface-level pop-culture aspects of geek culture (such as gaming,
movies, superheroes etc) became simply a part of culture-at-large,
while the parts of geek culture that made it truly "geek culture,"
that is to say the countercultural streak, the refusal to walk in
lock-step with the rest of society, the determination to actually
*learn* and *understand* things, that has become even more taboo
than it was before the 2000s.

As an example, my commitment to FOSS has been described as a
"dangerous dog whistle" before by people who would describe
themselves as vaguely pertaining to geek culture, but who no longer
believe in challenging the official narrative on any subject, such
as corporate spyware. Indeed, we are seeing the official narrative
start to paint any opposition to corporate spyware as somehow
suspicious and something to be combatted.

Anyway, just some Saturday morning thoughts.