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[on-screen text] This film features crowd-sourced video in addition to video gathered by the production team.
[on-screen text] Nerdfighters from around the world submitted vlogs, footage, and interviews to help make this collaborative documentary.
[on-screen text] Anaheim, California
[on-screen text] The Day Before VidCon
Uhm... letís.... Huh. Wow!
When Hank and I started VidCon three years ago... Well, Hank started it, who am I kidding?
[on-screen text] HANK & JOHN GREEN, The Vlogbrothers
What we learned about YouTube is that it has always been a two-way street.
Our passage to online-video has always been that itís about community.
Itís not something you look at, itís something you participate in.
We donít make stuff for our community, we make stuff with our community and after three years of VidCon
we are only more certain that that is what makes online-video beautiful and unique. 0:02:13 .000,0:03:03 .000 [on-screen text] A FILM TO DECREASE WORLDSUCK
[on-screen text] A NERDFIGHTERS DOCUMENTARY by Hannah Lindgren
VidCon is this awesome celebration of online-videos in general.
Itís just this big gathering of all these YouTube content-creators and fans of those content creators.
Fans of video-blogging and YouTube channels.
They have a bunch of different things for just fans
and then they have industry meetings to learn how to make better video.
John and Hank Green are two of the most well-known on YouTube.
I think that Hank and John started VidCon because they saw how big of a community formed around their videos.
and through that they probably saw other peoplesí online-videos and channels, and I think,
to them, logically, theyíre like ëwell clearly these people have to know each otherí
you canít just all be into the same things and in your own little pockets.
You gotta combine it into one world.
[on-screen text] FELICIA DAY ñ YouTube Celebrity That is literally the quintessential whatís beautiful about YouTube
itís community-building in a sense. And I think itís kind of unique that
around video you can create people who are really passionate and have like-minds
and then they can join forces to do awesome things.
Good morning Hank, itís Tuesday.
My wife is a Yeti.
My dog is a pirate.
And I am a semi-professional video-blogger.
Hank, do you ever wonder how this all, like, happened?
[on-screen text] BROTHERHOOD 2.0: The Beginning
Brotherhood 2.0 was how the vlogbrothers started.
Brotherhood 2.0 was a project started by two brothers, John and Hank Green.
It was John and Hank communicating with each other through vlogs for a whole year
and thatís how they talked to each other.
They made a rule that for a year, they couldnít communicate through text
so they started sending each other video-blogs on their YouTube channel.
So a blog is anything that is written-down expressing your thoughts and opinions.
A vlog is that in video form.
So Monday, John would make a video to Hank and then Tuesday, Hank would make a reply video.
It just started as a way for them to talk to each other over a long distance because they live pretty far away from each other.
And then everyone started watching it.
Iíd only just come across Youtube at that point in time and to see a guy sit there
and eat toilet paper and talk about opinions in politics.
Good morning John, itís Wednesday.
No. Yes. Yes. Wednesday.
Good morning Hank, itís Thursday January 24th.
It was weird and hilarious at the same time as being completely and utterly out of left field.
I think at that point, in YouTube, I didnít even know that there was a view button,
that you could actually look and see how many people viewed.
I was just going on to see two dudes talk to each other.
[on-screen text]: MICHAEL GREEN, John and Hankís Father For a while, like for the first two or three years,
I was sort of in awe of what they were doing.
I mean the first six months, you know, it was just: ëIsnít this great? I get to see my kids every day!í
You know, because they donít live at home and I get to see them talking to each other, so that was nice.
And then when it started becoming very popular because of the Harry Potter song
and they hit their million views and then the community started kind-of becoming a community.
I was very impressed with that.
It kind of just got really, really, really large.
And they didnít really realize at that point that... how big it was. Or how big it had gotten.
It was meant to be just a year-long thing and then they just kept going.
That was when they first got into YouTube and then the fans of that, they became nerdfighters.
And thatís where it all started.
[on-screen text] BEHIND THE CURTAIN: John & Hank Green
John Green is an author of young adult fiction
and he is, in my opinion, one of the best authors of young adult fiction.
John always, always wrote.
Weíve got some of the funniest stories- thereís a video about one of them!
It just isnít fair ñ by John Green Wimp! Iím Alvin Lorus.
Of course youíre Alvin Lorus! Itís adorable!
Iím pretty smart but Iím a total nerd!
Yeah, John always wanted to tell stories.
And High School is where we first started seeing these sort of flashes of brilliance
and youíd just go ëOh God!í. You know? It was different.
Johnís books are phenomenal, oh my goodness!
I used to pick one up in High School and Iíd never read it
and then I read Looking for Alaska and Iíve read every single one of his novels.
I love how theyíre written, ëcause theyíre not written too simply but theyíre not pretentious either.
Theyíre easy to read. Like some authors kind of patronize readers and
play out certain aspects of teenage life, but he doesnít hold back and
he brings in really sad parts, but also on the next page it can have really, really funny bits.
And it just shows the kind of whirlwind of emotions that teenage life is.
I remember... I have the image, it wasnít too long ago...
but I was in my deck, and next to my deck there were my neighbors celebrating...
and I was reading Looking For Alaska, and I laughed, and then cried, and laughed... 7:58 and they looked at me weird, but I was having a great time.
Hankís the younger of the vlogbrothers.
He used to be a biochemist and now he is an internet entrepreneur and musician.
Heís founded a few businesses; thereís DFTBA records, he currently runs
EcoGeek , an environmental blog, along with the vlogbrothers.
Hank makes lots of music.
Hankís music is... itís just fun. Itís just something that you can sing along to and dance along to
and theyíre informative as well! You learn things.
You learn about quarks and anglerfish and itís just an amazing combination of fun and knowledge.
[singing] A quark is a fundamental constituent of matter, observed in 1968 through deep elastic scatter.
We found that protons arenít as simple as we thought, we thought they were solid particles but they are not.
Protons in fact are made up of three separate pieces. It just gets more confusing as our knowledge increases.
But that is what a quark is; Itís a piece of a proton, And they also make up other things including the neutron.
Oh, up, down, strange, charm, top, bottom If you donít know what a quark is, it donít matter you still got ëem
And with leptons and bosons, unless somethingís amiss...
The video that absolutely launched Hank and Johnís videos was this video about
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
[singing] Iím getting kinda tired of this pre-publication media blitz You got all of muggle-kind under your spell
Donít you know the whole worldís already gone and reserved a copy at amazon?
How many more books could you sell?
Now give me my book or go to hell!
ëCause I need Harry Potter like a grindylow needs water and as...
Between the two of them though, I think, you do get a really good package of
learning a lot about science from Hank and then learning how to think about things from John.
They do complement each other a lot.
I think that John and Hank are very accessible and hilarious and so strange in the very best of ways.
Well, theyíre both really funny and kind of immature in the same sense cause John...
All of Johnís livestreams where heís covered in sharpie and he eats peanut butter off his face.
They donít act like adults. They donít act all stuffy and pompous and look down on the rest of us.
They really relate to us. They remember what it was like to be a kid our age they donít stop acting like it.
I mean, if you watch them, theyíre hilarious because theyíre not afraid to be who they are.
They have this certain appeal and theyíre kind of nerdy and able to connect
and understand how normal people our age feel.
John and Hank have such a following because itís universally relatable: Loving things.
It doesnít matter if youíre ten or eighty, everyone loves something and itís something everyone can relate to.
There are two things that we have always wanted: To be grown up and to still be able to be ourselves.
I think a lot of the best adults end up being the kind of people they wanted to be when they were kids.
And I think that is true of John and Hank, that they try to be as much fun and as happy
and as idealistic as they were when they were closer to our age
and that we enjoy seeing that idealism still in tact.
That we can still be like that when weíre their age.
Brrrrr..... Jiggle it out a little bit!
And then it all just came right back. It like... went woooo-aaaaaah.
Do it again! Brrrrr...... Ok that was better! That was better!
[on-screen text] NERDFIGHTERS: Fighting Nerds? For me it was one of those things where, there was just a day where,
all of a sudden I discovered everything.
And it was one of those where you realize: How have I been without this all my life?
The best way that I can describe a nerdfighter would probably be:
We are the fanbase of two guys who became incredibly famous on the internet
and weíve all manage to find some common interests that we all have.
A bunch of people on the internet, who watch John and Hankís videos and
then they get together outside in the actual world.
Nerdfighters arenít only online. I mean, they did start online
but it has moved and transcended the internet.
We play video games, we read books, we talk to each other. We just do general nerdy stuff.
I know people, sort of, who are nerdfighters but theyíre not necessarily nerds.
I just think nerdfighters are a group of people that are just lovely people to be around with
and that share a common interest.
I just surround myself with people who like the same things that I do.
So a lot of them end up being nerdfighters. They donít even really need to know theyíre a nerdfighter.
I feel like thereís a lot of people who donít know theyíre nerdfighters.
They are, but they donít know it yet.
And itís the kind of thing that youíd tell your friends about, like, watching John and Hankís videos
and then youíd tell your friends about them and then they would go on
and then youíd meet people on the internet and tell them and theyíd tell their friends...
And it just spreads so quickly.
Itís just a really nice group of people who are very passionate about things.
The one big thing, I guess, is just you have to be interested in things.
Itís a passion kind of thing.
Nerdfighters tend to have this kind of fire for life and humanity and the people around them.
The weird thing about nerdfighters is that, yes, you can be into a ton of different things
and youíre gonna find people who are into those, too, but... Thatís not really the point.
The entire point of a nerdfighter is youíre crazy-passionate and super into something.
It doesnít matter what it is as long as there is something that
just burns you deep down to your core and just... makes you wanna scream and do a happy-dance.
Thatís all that a nerdfighter is, down at the core.
A typical nerdfighter normally likes Harry Potter or maybe Game of Thrones...
We have our fandoms.
It is something that people really obsess about. Something that people are big fans of.
Fan-dom, I guess.
Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Sherlock...
Doctor Who is a major part right now.
Sherlock Holmes...
And then thereís literature fandoms. Harry Potter, of course! Harry Potter is the biggest.
Specific music fandoms and...
We just like fandoms. Haha, really!
The idea of nerdfighteria and fandoms kind of go perfectly together because you have these nerdfighters
who are generally a little bit more enthusiastic and will go with that, over here, and then...
the things that they really enjoy and really love, which, their enthusiasm goes into those.
But the thing is, they collect groups of friends that all go into those fandoms together, so they can all have a big nerd-out moment
with each other to talk about the things that they love and like.
And even if you donít like the same things as other people you accept their obsession.
I donít necessarily think thereís a stereotypical nerdfighter and I donít think that you could
have a list of descriptive words and be like ëOh yes, thatís a nerdfighter!í. But, I think the one thing that
most or all nerdfighters have in common is that they are accepting of others.
I think thatís really what John and Hank enforce in a lot of their videos and theyíre pretty cool with just about everybody.
[on-screen text] DECREASING WORLDSUCK: Increasing Awesome
Our goal is to decrease worldsuck and so... we want to spread awesome.
Donít forget to be awesome! You know... we want to help communities,
we want to reach out to the world basically, and help other people.
World suck is all the bad things happening in the world, like poverty and world hunger and the economy, basically.
World suck is just bad stuff happening in the world. You know, thereís poverty, bullying...
Just not-nice people
You can just smile at someone who looks like theyíre having a bad day and hopefully brighten it.
Or you could hold the door open for people.
Nerdfighters can just decrease worldsuck by being supportive to other people who are having a hard time.
John and Hank are always promoting charities, like kiva.org
And theyíre getting nerdfighteria involved in microfinance and giving to people that are less fortunate than us and
just coming together and creating projects, like the Project for Awesome where we all get to choose our own charities to try to promote.
[on-screen text] THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME, Social Media Event Our community takes over YouTube.
Everybody makes a video supporting a specific organization and they try to get people
to watch their videos, to support their organization, and donate.
We all go around favoriting it and commenting on it, so that it gets really popular and gets on the featured page of YouTube.
That way, people who arenít necessarily nerdfighters can still become aware of all the cool causes that they can support
and they can become aware of our community.
There was a moment yesterday, in the middle of watching hundreds of videos and talking about them with thousands of nerdfighters
where I thought that, other than my wedding day, this was the happiest Iíd been since I was, like, seven.
I mean, the last thing that made me this happy was probably Fraggle Rock.
Itís just so amazing to see all these people come together to support each other and all these worthy organizations.
[on-screen text] THE HARRY POTTER ALLIANCE, Activist Group The HPA stands for the Harry Potter Alliance, which is a non-profit organization
that raises awareness about really important social issues and raises money to donate to charities.
Remember when nerdfighteria and the Harry Potter Alliance raised $123,000 to Help Haiti Heal
and we had the SS-DFTBA load up and go over to Haiti?
Right, that Harry Potter Alliance!
[on-screen text] THIS STAR WONíT GO OUT, Raising Money for Cancer Thereís the This Star Wonít Go Out Foundation, which a lot of us are a part of and we donate to.
They met this nerdfighter called Esther Earl and she was quite sick.
And when they went to see her and they just... I think completely fell in love with this person.
Good morning Hank, itís Friday. Esther Earl, who inspired a lot of nerdfighteriaís recent worldsuck-decreasing projects, died earlier this week.
She was sixteen. Esther was a great friend to many people in nerdfighteria - and a great friend to me.
And for a long time, she has been a huge part of the life of the nerdfighter community.
And our community, in turn, was a huge part of her life.
She inspired so many people. And itís really awesome to see how sheís done that.
And... since then has inspired more people.
Esther means star and her friends had a bracelet printed up that reads ëThis Star Wonít Go Outí.
And it wonít. We wonít let it.
And itís to help families with kids with cancer just to cope and have a little extra money.
[on-screen text] KIVA.ORG, Lending to Startups in Other Countries And then kiva.org is... It wasnít actually set-up by John and Hank but they made it incredibly popular.
Kiva.org is basically a way to give money to people in third-world countries
who are trying to make businesses and improve other peopleís lives.
And what you do is, you give your money, and they take your money, graciously, and they make stuff out of it.
Whether itís a business, whether itís products, whether itís clean water, whatever it is.
They take it, they make something of it, and they give it back.
Now, you donít always get it back, but itís a fairly high percentage that you get back.
And then you can just put that into more businesses and so, basically:
Itís a way for you to lend money, get it back, and then lend it again.
[on-screen text] WATER.ORG, Building Wells in Underdeveloped Countries Weíve done certain stuff, like get fresh, clean water and everything to certain communities.
Thanks to nerdfighteria and water.org, those people have more than just a well.
They have a community-owned asset that people pay a fair price to use and that money goes into maintaining that asset.
So that twenty, thirty, fifty years from now, those people still have a source of clean water.
They built something that the community is invested in, has control over, and cooperatively maintains.
And now, because of this resource, they have more time to grow their economy, to educate themselves and their children. 0:19:51.000,0:19:54.000 Because they can spend less time going to get water and less time being sick.
Weíre not oblivious to the way that society and media and culture is today.
We know that it freaking sucks right now. And we know that it needs to get better and, collectively,
weíre making the world better. Trying to.
Being a nerdfighter, or discovering it, made me realize that
even if you know about all these problems in the world, you can actually do something.
I have yet to meet a nerdfighter who doesnít believe that humanity could be great and do awesome things.
Nobody can save the world, but if anybody is going to come anywhere close to it, itís the nerdfighters.
[on-screen text] NERDFIGHTERIA: Inside (so) Jokes
Thereís so many, so many inside jokes in nerdfighteria that you loose track of them.
I think a few would be an understatement.
My favorite is definitely DFTBA (Donít Forget To Be Awesome), just because I think that those are words that everyone should live by.
My favorite thing about nerdfighteria is probably the ësloganí, if you will: Donít forget to be awesome, 0:21:25.000,0:21:33.000 because itís something that I just try to apply to my everyday life and my everyday life is awesome.
To me it means: Just donít forget that you can be awesome. Donít forget that...
You know, to be respectful and to be friendly. Just to be a nice person, be an awesome person.
There have been times on the street where I have just been saying ëDFTBAí to my friend
and then someone walking by will just shout ëDFTBAí back.
We should never forget to be awesome.
DFTBA!
And this... ñ Ah! Itís the nerdfighter gang sign! So if you see somebody doing this, you know not to shoot them.
I really love the joke ëin your pantsí. ñ Yes!
In your pants came around from Maureen Johnson.
Maureen Johnson is another young adult author. And she is really close to John and Hank.
Maureen Johnson basically discovered that if you put ìin your pantsî at the end of any book title, it becomes awesome!
ëThe Dance of the Dissident Daughterí in your pants!
ëPresent Moment, Wonderful Momentí in your pants!
ëStumbling on Happinessí in your pants!
ëGetting the Girlí in your pants!
ëThe Mystery of the Golden Shperesí in your pants!
ëEverymaní in your pants!
And Albert Camusí classic ëThe Strangerí in your pants.
French the Llama!
French the Llama.
Iím big on French the Llama.
Itís a general exclamation of excitement, like: French the Llama!
French the Llama is something that John is trying to make into a thing in which people say: ëFrench the Llama that whale is big!í
But itís not going to work. ñ Oh itís going to happen! Iím going to make French the Llama happen!
It doesnít actually mean anything but you hear people say it all the time in so many different contexts.
I think itís awesome!
Puppy-sized elephants
Uh... puppy-sized elephants
Puppy-sized elephants is basically asking natural selection for puppy-sized elephants
because they would have the evolutionary advantage of being adorable.
This is John Green with a mustache and pizza. Itís called the Pizza John T-shirt.
Probably one of the most iconic T-Shirts for nerdfighters.
Well, John likes pizza and one time in a video, for like five seconds, he had a mustache.
So I figured I would combine the two. I really, I really donít know or remember what specifically lead me
to combine these two elements into a beautiful image. But the result is striking, I believe.
Itís great, because, you know, loads of nerdfighters will have it ñ itís very recognizable as a T-Shirt.
And you will meet lots of nerdfighters around the place if you just wear it as much as possible.
[on-screen text] NERDFIGHTERIA: An Online Community
I think nerdfighters are all unique but also have this one thing that overlaps
that isnít the community of nerdfighteria.
In general, nerdfighteria is a place where people from around the world can
come together with common interests and find friends.
Itís hard to explain the whole concept of nerdfighteria to people.
A lot of people, when I explain it, theyíre like: ëSo youíre in a cult?í and Iím like ëNo, no, thatís not it!í
Nerdfighteria is the island or town where we all live together as a community to help make more world-awesome.
Itís really just something thatís a place inside all of us ñ where we can be together
whether it be online or in the real world.
Nerdfighteria is primarily online with interactions in real life disbursed throughout.
Itís online because it spreads so much; itís around the world and
because itís online involves all these people to get together and hang out and talk and chat and meet.
Nerdfighters communicate online through multiple way. Because weíre teenagers and really good at finding out ways to do that.
Name the social network and I will show you where nerdfighters communicate.
Tumblr for sure; facebook, depending on what area youíre in...
There was the Ning, which was the official nerdfighter site for a while and then, I think, it was YourPants...
... in your pants ñ the forum.
But YouTube, obviously, because thatís where they put all the videos.
I mean, there are copious amounts of ways to talk to each other and to...
... you know, just get super-excited about what weíre into.
I think itís indicative of our era, of our time, why itís online.
Because, uh... it would... I donít think it would work as well if there wasnít the internet, if it wasnít online.
Nerdfighteria grew so quickly because there are so many of us out there who donít have a particular place to be in
- and to be themselves in. And itís nice to feel included with others.
We need to be together in these things, rather than...
Because itís really hard to be the only person you know whoís into a book or into a film or into a TV-show and no one else gets excited about it.
I knew that there was a whole culture behind, like, Harry Potter and Doctor Who
but I never felt like I could join in because I didnít know how to break into that.
But then when I found nerdfighteria it was like: Everybody has at least some similar interests with somebody else.
And everybody is so excited to find people who are also interested in the same things as them.
That just makes it a lot easier to make friends.
In High School, I felt a little distant from everybody else. I like different things. I was labeled as a nerd.
And then I found the vlogbrothers and nerdfighteria ñ it was just beginning when I found them ñ
I was accepted into this group and I felt normal, whereas in High School I didnít feel normal.
We donít really judge anyone for liking something.
For me, being a nerdfighter reminds me that Iím not alone in anything that I do.
If I have a favorite fandom, if I have this obscure thing, someone else out there knows about it.
And they could be my friend and talk about it.
Nerdfighters has always been this thing thatís been there for me.
Like, any time Iíve been feeling sad or any time something bad is happening, Iíd go on and watch one of the videos and it would always make me feel better.
The majority of my friends are nerdfighters and without nerdfighteria, I wouldnít be friends with them.
In the facebook group it happens that you say, ìHello, I have a problem, I need help...î
and you instantly have 50 people commenting, ìdo thisî, ìdo thatî, ìI can help you...î
I donít know, and the simple fact that we help each other just because we are nerdfighters.
Basically, it encourages everybody to just embrace themselves and to embrace other people
who may be different, and may have different opinions and different likes and dislikes.
I personally enjoy it because there is a place where I can go and meet people.
And they take me along with them and we just have a great time.
Being a nerdfighter involves being part of a global community, which values certain things.
I think itís very values-based. And I think theyíre the right values.
I think nerdfighters are like that, because the founders of nerdfighteria, John and Hank Green
are very adamant about supporting being open and friendly to each other.
And theyíre such good role models for everybody whoís part of the community that I think they try to emulate that.
Itís all based around Hank and Johnís videos. But it goes much, much beyond that!
You know, as Hank and John were saying earlier this weekend:
Most of nerdfighteria has been built by the nerdfighters. Theyíre the cornerstone of it, theyíre the center.
But it really is this large community of people who are just awesome!
I think they are much on the same level as we are. They are a part of us, and we are a part of the community.
I like the community-aspect of it and I like how weíre all in different places 0:29:39 .000,null and have different ideas. But we all have this thing in common.
All over the world, I feel like Iím connected to these people who have similar interests and viewpoints as myself.
I think that the nerdfighter community is so global because the one thing that we do all have in common
is that weíre all passionate. Weíre all super into something.
I know that a lot of us are a younger generation ñ but not all of us. So that does connect us.
But itís just that passion. Itís just that love for whatever it is that connects all of us.
I think thatís why itís global. Because love for anything speaks across all nations.
A lot of those themes, just loving what you love and being who you are,
itís something that appeals to human beings as opposed to just one culture or country.
It basically allows people from around the world to talk about things of common interest and have a good time together
and not have to worry about distance and everything else. And so...
Because nerdfighteria is online, you can have friends everywhere!
I think itís just such an original concept!
Just having this whole group of people coming together who arenít part of a specific fandom or anything.
Itís just people who enjoy being around other intellectual people.
You just get a bunch of like-minded people, who are all really nice to each other.
And thereís really great people. And they just... It works!
The thing about having something thatís based online is that...
Everyone lives so far away and they always feel really alone for being the only person
wherever they live, who likes the vlogbrothers.
And itís really nice when you find out that one other person wants to meet people in that same area, who like those same things.
[on-screen text] GATHERINGS: Nerdfighting irl
I wanted to meet more people my area, I just wanted to meet people in real life, irl.
Iíve had a really positive experience meeting other nerdfighters.
Iíve been to a few nerdfighter gatherings. Theyíre always very fun!
A normal gathering experience is lots of ëhanging outí. We donít generally have a real plan behind them.
Itís: Meet up in a place and meet nerdfighters.
You meet people online who are nerdfighters and you think: ìWow, youíre really cool!î
And then you meet them in real life and itís just: ìWow, you actually exist!î
I expected that, maybe, ten people at most would show up.
Over 50 people replied to the facebook event and said that they were going. So I kind of freaked out.
It was a shock to see that many people go and do so many nerdfighter-related things.
Theyíre all really friendly! I went to a gathering a few months ago where I didnít know anyone
but it instantly felt like I knew the people there.
They make you feel accepted, even though half of them already knew each other.
They make you feel welcome because they know exactly what kind of things you like and who you are, basically.
It was nice to realize that the fanbase is alive - over here in this small rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
I like the gatherings because, even if people show up whom I donít know,
itís always just such an open and accepting atmosphere that I can make friends.
The first gathering we had, there were maybe two people there who knew each other.
And some of the people I met there are some of my best friends now.
Iím really socially awkward ñ so I saw them in a group and I just knew it was them.
It was an instant knowing that that was the nerdfighters in a group.
But I stood to the side a bit, just to prepare myself because I thought ìIím going to be so awkward!î
But the minute I went over and said ìAre you guys the nerdfighters?î, everyone came over to me
and was talking to me and was so nice and lovely. Within five minutes it was like Iíd known them my whole life.
Iíd never really experienced anything like that before, so it was an amazing thing to happen.
I finally met people who were like me. Iíve always been put down for being nerdy
or being geeky or whatever you want to call it.
But I found this giant community in Ireland, halfway around the world,
that was accepting, that was amazing, that was fun!
And some of my closest now are nerdfighters. Actually almost all my closest friends now are nerdfighters.
When you can meet up with people who live near you and go to schools near you...
You know, you can have a personal connection and talk about things you have in common
and it brings you closer to nerdfighteria as a whole, through this small group.
You start going to gatherings and you start meeting people youíve been hanging out with on the internet
and youíre like: ìThese people are awesome! I like hanging out with these people!î
It was... It was just brilliant!
Nerdfighter gatherings are just some of the best things that... I love doing.
[on-screen text] NERDFIGHTERIA: Changing Lives
Hank and John being such genuine, awesome people makes them such good role models.
Because theyíre not afraid to share their thoughts and theyíre not afraid to shar their beliefs
but they do it in a way thatís respectful.
All of these online videos... Theyíre real people.
We know that Hollywood hasnít come in and touched them up or applied crazy special effects.
These are people just... chilling at home who decide that they have something to say and they want the world to hear it.
And I think thatís what our generation really like: That itís real.
A: They created this great community. And B: They...
I mean there are a lot of different factors in this, but they kind of made it cool to be a nerd.
They helped the cultural movement of being nerdy.
Nerdfighteria definitely changed my life.
Iím always organizing gatherings and attending them. Iíve been to all of them because...
... I know I can get together with my friends who are not nerdfighters but I know I wonít enjoy it the same...
because they donít understand me the same way.
There are loads of things with nerdfighters that I never would have gotten the chance to do if I hadnít...
Like Iíve had light saber battles with friends and Iíve gone to conventions and met other nerdfighters.
And weíve all done the silly... and weíve all talked at the gatherings as well...
Up until this point, Iíve never been comfortable with myself,
Iíve never been comfortable with my nerdiness or with liking the things that I like
because Iíve only known a hand-full of people in my entire life that liked the same things.
So... Nerdfighteria has given me that ability. Itís given me the ability to be comfortable with myself.
And by doing that itís also given me a whole group of friends that Iím so happy to have in my life.
Learning to love me was a process that they were actively involved in.
without knowing that they were actively involved in it. 0:36:52.000,0:36:59.000 They show us, through their example, that itís OK to be yourself. You can like whatever you like!
Youíre allowed to do that and youíre allowed to be passionate about the things that you love!
And in fact, that makes those things even better.
And when youíre passionate about things you love you can find other people that are just as passionate as you.
And I think that that is really the heart of nerdfighteria:
Itís just people loving things and getting together and loving those things together.
[on-screen text] THE FUTURE OF NERDFIGHTERIA
I think that nerdfighters will stay around for a long time.
I donít think itís going to fizzle out because people who are now nerdfighters...
I think they will stay like that for the rest of their life or they will remember it.
And they will probably tell their children.
I think even when John and Hank are long past their days of video-making...
... there will still be some people out there who will make videos.
Itíll eventually become just this archive of videos, like a bible for nerdfighters.
I think itís just going to keep getting bigger.
I mean, YouTube is getting bigger, nerdfighteria is getting bigger...
More and more people are connecting, making friends...
And the friendships formed wouldnít just dissolve because of a lack of John and Hank.
However, I think they will continue they will continue to be so very important to us
because we still all care a lot about the things they say.
So uhm... I think it could survive without them, but I think it would be better with them.
Without Hank and John it probably would never have come into being
but I think even if they hadnít started it, there would be some kind of community along the lines of nerdfighteria that would have sprung up.
So I think they were just the catalyst to make it happen.
I think itís only going to get better!
Thatís the only thing I can say about it.
[End credits] A FILM TO DECREASE WORLDUCK
PRODUCED, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY: Hannah Lindgren
PRIMARY VIDEOGRAPHERS: Kayla Sprayue, Paul Weller
SECONDARY VIDEOGRAPHERS: Dean Covert, .....
AUDIO EDITORS: Kyle Fischer, Nathan Isaacs
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Brenda Myers & Jim Lindgren, ...
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Caroline Proulx, ... [portraits]
ALL INTERVIEWEES: Abby Picard, ... ALL VLOGGERS: AJ (ajsmusicmadness), ... LIAISONS: Alice Evans ñ Cardiff, Dean Covert ñ Boston, Hannah Moroz ñ California, Kayla Sprayue ñ Muncle, Indiana, Kyle Fischer ñ Muncle, Indiana, Luciano Spanto ñ Argentina, Meredith Stabbe ñ Washington, D.C., Zachary Griner ñ Ireland SPANISH TRANSLATORS: Luciano Spanto, Nicole Baringer SONGS: ëSongSongSongí by Ethan Conroy, ... MUCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM: SPECIAL THANKS:
DFTBA!