Why does society label video gamers as nerds?

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Because it's a hobby where you spend all your time sitting indoors, gaining weight and not interacting with people face-to-face?

Works for me.
 

jp

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Nerds are seen as people who only spend time on certain technologies (such as computers) and have no social life at all, and don't know how to get one.

Geeks however, can get a social life, but just have a big love for certain technologies (computers).

Supose i'm a geek, but I detest being labeled like a jar of pickles >_<
 
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Because people don't understand our motivations and we by nature do not have a charismatic leader to properly represent our group to the masses.

The fact that you actually differentiated between "nerd" and "geek" tells me two things:
1.) You're still in high school.
2.) Perpetuating those stereotypes by giving them such concrete definitions is part of the problem.
 
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1.) You're still in high school.
That was the first thing that came to mind.

I've actually noticed something of an acceptance toward people who play video games, but that might just come from being in Engineering. Our buildings are generally full of people on laptops playing WoW.
 
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It's definately taking a decline now. During my freshman year in the dorms, everyone loved to play Halo and other games like that, and I would only consider one or three of the 20 of them nerds
 

jp

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SaiyanPrideXIX said:
Because people don't understand our motivations and we by nature do not have a charismatic leader to properly represent our group to the masses.

The fact that you actually differentiated between "nerd" and "geek" tells me two things:
1.) You're still in high school.
2.) Perpetuating those stereotypes by giving them such concrete definitions is part of the problem.
Excuse me, are you talking about me?;/

ONE, I'm NOT in high school, i'm 20 and in college,

TWO, I got that information of urban dictionary.com, I don't see HOW that can tell you that I am in high school.

Besides, people just tend label other people, I don't like to label others as much as I liked to be labeled myself, I think that's pretty stupid to do, but what I think is more stupid is that you guys just say that to sound cool because you just demeaned another person.

Supose i'm a geek, but I detest being labeled like a jar of pickles
>_<
Basing on saying that you could also have been "knowing" that I don't like that either, and that I think its all a load of bull, but no, i'm in high school according to you, gah, just because I said what people define as geeks and nerds, but my apologies for that, sheesh.

Okay, let me say it now then.

I do not like labels, I do not like being catagorized, I do not like to be called anything and to call other people names.
 
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Why do the label us video gamers as nerds ?

Well simply put, for the most part, were are.

Okay, im in high school, and i think that arguing which game is better makes you a nerd, talking about the themes and the various nuances of storytelling in the game makes you a nerd, talking about the newest gaming related paraphanelia makes you a nerd. Have you tried talking with other game fans and people who are not into the hobby. When you talk to other game fans, there is normally an air of awkwardness between you (the game fan) and the people who don't even care about games.

The same thing goes into many other hobbies. There is a certain taboo about it when speaking on it because of the stigma surrounded by it.

I love videogames, but do you think I would ever discuss it openly with my girls over the phone or on girls night out and ect-- gaming is a closet thing for me, unless I hear some indictation that they share the same hobby as I do. It's been years, and i still havent seen any indication, and anytime they come over and they trip or step over a bunch of gaming controllers, systems, and ect-- i tell them it belongs to my cousin or something.

Gaming is a hobby labeled for losers and nerds because the "true" gamers are losers and nerds. The fact that I spend more than 1 hour in this forum talking about the various intricacies of games automatically makes me a nerd. Do I care about that? Nope.

Do I care about being open about it to people I am unfamiliar with? Absolutely.
 
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Because we are... Well i think i am. When people think of computers they think of Bill Gates and video game consoles these days are basically computers. And look at Bill Gates. He's nice and gives a lot of stuff to charity but what would most people call him? A nerd or a geek. And there's a computer store thingy called Geek Squad.lol, around here anyways...
 

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I proud to be a anime nerd, book nerd, and gamer but i also have played football , going on 5 years, and baseball for almost 7 so im ok with it.
 
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Because a lot of the people seen playing them portray the stereotype.

I walked into a Gamestop the other day and it was crowded with geeky-looking people/conversations. That stereotype of a videogames is very blatant, so it makes it easier for people to associate "video games" with "nerds".

Now, the only times I discuss videogame related topics are in small doses with people, or online. Having continuous video game conversations with people I know would just be weird and to be honest, kind of pathetic for myself in my eyes.

So yeah if there wasn't any "omg j00 suxxorz lol" in Counter Strike and some obese, nasal sounding kid with glasses talking about how he loves *insert character* in Final Fantasy, the stereotype wouldn't be as popular.
 
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Almost everyone plays video games, That does not mean that they are nerds, Not neccesarily atleast.
 
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Since when? I tell a lot of people I play video games. Not once have I ever been called a "nerd" or a "geek". Hell, I was talking to a girl today about my playing video games. All she said was "I never got into video games" and that's it. Nothing more.
 
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DP, things are different for you, you're a girl. For girls in today's society almost every single thing you do besides shop, talk about guys, and *****fight, is some shameful dirty secret. Girls are trained from birth by the society around them (esp. in the states) that almost everything about them is something to be ashamed of. Your weight, your hair, what you look like under your makeup, what people may or may not think of you, all that.

Talking openly about videogames for a girl to other girls is nigh impossible. So I don't agree that your case is universally applicable.

Though a lot of what I see in this thread explains why it is the way it is. People are so ashamed. I love to talk about games. But no one ever calls me a geek.

I think the casuals are ashamed of it or feel awkward talking about it. I never have a problem with it, even talking to people who don't play or even know what I'm talking about. I just explain to them how it works before I tell whatever story I tell and 9 times out of 10 they get it.

Maybe if less of us were ashamed or felt awkward about this the world would see that NORMAL people play games too. I think it is my responsibility as a non-weirdo to spread far and wide the fact that I play video games RELIGIOUSLY. I also think you should all do the same. Cause if you don't, the old folks are just gonna keep on dogging us as a whole.

Really simply put, the fact of the matter is only outspoken ubernerds seem to talk about it publically with disregard for those who may overhear. And when you hear these big fat weirdos with curly afros, head lice, and button-up Kagome shirts talk excitedly about which girl is hotter, Cammy or Chun Li...well those people are maladjusted people who have found a home within our hobby, and that's fine. But now because of people like all of you who are afraid to be public about it, the free world thinks that all we are is that, or carbon copies of the only other game people who've ever made the news -- Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.

It won't change until WE change it. So if you are an avid gamer and not proud of it I say thanks for nothing. It's not something to be ashamed of, it's not socially awkward, sometimes people just need to be enlightened as to what you're talking about before they can find a game story or discussion worth participating in.

In any case we need more people like Chris. People with some balls. Unfortunately, this hobby, website, and the internet in general attract mostly people with no balls. So I'm hoping that some of the things I see on ESF aren't the same on a worldwide scale. Cause if the same worldwide percentage of gamers are ashamed of their hobby in public as the percentage of this thread is, we're in trouble.
 
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You can play video games a lot and not be considered a nerd. Its just when people start to get pedantic about information with games/computers, or when they bring up game/computer related topics as analogies and other such things that will give you that label. Imo its more like sports these days, there are people who like certain sports and can find it a great way to spark up a conversation, same thing with games, if somebody doesnt like games, just dont talk to them about it.

To be honnest, i dont think people do consider computer gamers as nerds these-days, its so mainstream nobody has to worry about it. Then again i live in britain, your country/place might be different at this point in time.
 
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Diamond Princess said:
Why do the label us video gamers as nerds ?

Well simply put, for the most part, were are.

Okay, im in high school, and i think that arguing which game is better makes you a nerd, talking about the themes and the various nuances of storytelling in the game makes you a nerd, talking about the newest gaming related paraphanelia makes you a nerd. Have you tried talking with other game fans and people who are not into the hobby. When you talk to other game fans, there is normally an air of awkwardness between you (the game fan) and the people who don't even care about games.

The same thing goes into many other hobbies. There is a certain taboo about it when speaking on it because of the stigma surrounded by it.

I love videogames, but do you think I would ever discuss it openly with my girls over the phone or on girls night out and ect-- gaming is a closet thing for me, unless I hear some indictation that they share the same hobby as I do. It's been years, and i still havent seen any indication, and anytime they come over and they trip or step over a bunch of gaming controllers, systems, and ect-- i tell them it belongs to my cousin or something.

Gaming is a hobby labeled for losers and nerds because the "true" gamers are losers and nerds. The fact that I spend more than 1 hour in this forum talking about the various intricacies of games automatically makes me a nerd. Do I care about that? Nope.

Do I care about being open about it to people I am unfamiliar with? Absolutely.
I talk about cars all day with my father and friends. Does this make me a nerd? I talk about years, makes, models. How the Saleen s7 is a piece of sex. We talk about what's new that's coming out, and what's old that no one uses before. We talk about how we would go about getting 500 hp from a 4 cyl. engine, or what cars can go from 0-60 in how many seconds. Etc. Does this label me as a nerd? It's like talking about games. Except we're talking about cars instead.
 
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LOL, I get called a nerd by some ppl, but I don't care at all, just because I go online and tell them about the latest news on something I'm a nerd, pretty weird, I do have a life though, I don't go on my PC every day...but I've learnt that if someone isn't interested in PCs then I should totally drop that type of convo with them, always, but lol, sometimes that's all I can talk about, so some people call me silent.
 
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We know stuff about computers. We know how to make people's myspaces look pretty. We are excellent with our hands, and have good hand eye coordination. We are competetive. We like anime. We like games. We like owning people. We like to win. We can get rid of people's spyware.

and if we can't.

we know how to google for it.

that's why we are nerds!
 

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