Final Blog

Research Question: In what ways can we see that “geek culture” has slowly begun to be accepted by and even influence today’s society?

 Thesis: I feel the affect geek culture is having on society is a positive one. People who tend to be a part of geek culture are more creative and tend to get along well with others despite major social differences.

 Link to Presentation:http://kelleyspresentationforlibrary.tumblr.com/

Important Sources

As I have said before, it has been a little difficult for me to find good sources on the rise and acceptance of "geek" culture but I have been able to find a few good things. One of the pieces I found that I like the best is an article from The New York Times talking about the popularity of The Big Bang Theory over other shows that are known to be very popular. Another source that I have that I really like is a book called The Geek Handbook: Practical Skills and Advice for the Likeable Modern Geek. I did not find this book in the library, it was actually a gift from a friend but it fits really well with my topic. The first chapter describes some of the most well known types of geeks and I want to use it in part of my presentation to show people that a geek is not just someone who plays video games and reads comic books.

Research Question: How has the general acceptance of geek culture changed society?
 
My sources:

"'The Big Bang Theory,' a Broadcast and Cable Juggernaut." New York Times (blog). The New York             Times, 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.

Langely, Alex. The Geek Handbook: Practical Skills and Advice for the Likeable Modern Geek. Iola,             WI: Krause, 2012. Print.

Social Media Research

This assignment was fairly easy since I use a few of these sites regularly. I ended up using Reddit, Facebook and Twitter for my research. None of them were really that helpful for actual research purposes. Each website, especially Reddit, had things related to nerdy topics but none of them really helped in the rise of geek culture.
I actively use Facebook and Twitter in my personal life though. They have been really helpful for keeping up with old friends and my favorite Youtubers. I also love using Tumblr. It's a picture sharing website that you used to need an account for but is much more open now. It is so much fun to use to find new friends, blog about your feelings and neat things you see, and get to see amazing artwork. You have to be careful with Tumblr though, it's really easy to see some things you would rather not ever see. We call that the dark side of Tumblr, beware the dark side. (They lie about the cookies)

Article

This isn't a very long article but I thought it was interesting, http://www.omg-facts.com/History/After-9-11-The-CIA-Used-Eminem-s-Slim-Sh/51797?lp=1

I only looked at the first article because they are all very different. This one is about The CIA using music as a torture technique to get terrorists to give up information. Even though water-boarding is an extremely effective technique the CIA decided to also use a type of music torture. By playing songs like "Enter Sandman" by Metallica and "Bodies" by Drowning Pool those being interrogated would begin to feel uneasy and accidentally give up important information.

This isn't really a opinion based article or an argumentative one, the author is simply stating a fact about something that not many people may know about the CIA. This short piece does make me wonder about the affects of music on people. If it causes those who have never heard it before to have anxiety issues and feel jittery then should we really be listening to it as well? It's something that I want to look u more about now.

More on Researching

So far the researching we have done in class is not too much different from what I had to do in my English class last semester. I did not use the GIL program last semester though and it has been an interesting resource to learn about. I think it will be a search engine I will try to use for this project but if I cannot I know for sure that I will be using it to find resources for my next English paper.

Nothing really confuses me at this point about the things we have covered in class. Everything was taught in a straightforward manner and had very good visual aids to go along with it. 

There also is not anything that I feel the need to focus on, like I said, everything was taught very clearly. I just look forward to seeing what we will do next!

Special Collections

I'm not sure really how I can use Special Collections in this research project since I am writing it about the gradual acceptance about Geek culture. I would not think they would have a lot of information about old Sci-fi shows or movies.

I do think that I could probably use it for my English 1102 class later though when I have to write a paper about the movie The Secret Life of Bees and compare it to other aspects of the South at that time. Since they have so much information on life in Carrollton throughout the years I would assume they would have a lot about the South in general that I may not be able to find in regular books.

I think it is important to use Special Collections because they have many things that you can not find otherwise on the internet. It's also neat to find first or very early editions of printed materials which make great resources for a Works Cited page.

Researching

So I missed the blog post about what topics we may like to research, sorry. I'm thinking about doing my project either on eating disorders in young women, although it is very overdone or the gradual acceptance of "Geek Culture" into society.

Eating disorders is really over done but it is also pretty darn easy and that is why I am thinking about doing it. I know if I did I could easily search the different types of eating disorders and psychological reasons for eating disorders. 

The rise of Geek Culture may be a bit more difficult for me to research because its gradual accent into popularity is not as well documented and many still wish to deny it has a big influence on life today. I know I can search things like, geek, nerd, geek subculture, and hipster. I’m sure there is even more I can look up and that slowly but surely I can come across a good deal of information but for now eating disorders is still a much safer bet.