The term ‘geek’ became highly popularized in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it referred to people who were into technical and/or niche hobbies (e.g., computers, comics, sci-fi, board games, etc.). You could take a look at someone and, by judging how they looked and how they dressed, you’d already have a pretty good idea of who was a geek and who wasn’t; so basically, back then, the term ‘geek’ was more of a pejorative.
Today, though, you see people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Adam Savage, Jeff Bezos, … all geeks, but there’s something different about them.
What changed?
The internet happened. And then later, social media.
There are websites and communities out there that’ve earned so much credibility and become so popular that the ‘geek world’ pays full attention to everything they put out.
And whatever you’re into, you’ve felt that influence even though you may not have realized it.
How Online Authority Is Built
When it comes down to online authority, it’s two key factors that matter the most – trust and visibility.
‘Trust’ refers to how the website (the source) consistently and reliably delivers good information (truthful, unbiased, factual, backed by evidence, detailed).
‘Visibility’ refers to you existing on the internet (primarily on Google or on social media).
Once your website has both factors covered well, you become popular. And that popularity grows depending on how big your audience is.
Here’s an excellent example: gaming.
Big triple-A releases are in the ‘geek’ niche, sure. But they’re more of a corporate thing than the actual passion and creativity behind what geeks want. AAA titles are more about how the big corps can make money out of it, while indie games are about ‘I want the world to play my idea’.
Markus Persson, a Swedish geek (programmer), had this amazing idea to create a procedurally-generated sandbox world where the player has the full freedom of exploring, surviving, crafting, and… mining – the whole world made out of blocks.
Minecraft. Regardless of whether you’re a geek or not, a gamer or not, a fan or not a fan – it doesn’t matter. You’ve heard of ‘Minecraft’.
A passion project turned into a $4.5 billion (USD) empire.
How? trust and visibility.
No game feature was hidden behind paywalls or ads. The game instantly hooked gamers all over the world, and through YouTube, online forums, and word of mouth (“Did you see that new game Minecraft?!”), It exploded into a worldwide sensation. It went viral before the word ‘viral’ even became a thing.
Today, being a geek is no longer considered derogatory; it’s cool. Look at Henry Cavill and his love for the Witcher series (based on his days of reading the books and playing all the games), and his passion for Warhammer 40k.
Being a geek is no longer considered ‘niche’.
And while that’s nice in general, it creates a problem – if you are one and you’ve got an idea that you feel is amazing, you might get the ‘trust’ part without many issues. But ‘visibility’ might prove to be a challenge. That’s because the competition you’re now dealing with is colossal.
How can you help bring your idea to your audience?
Here are a few steps:
- Great idea = great trust.
- Create a website.
- Create a social media profile.
- Create amazing content revolving around your idea.
- Make sure your website is optimized to maximize your chances of getting noticed.
- Make sure your social media is optimized as well.
- Pictures.
- Videos.
- Profit!
Pro tip: If you don’t know how to optimize your website and build authority, then don’t shy away from hiring experts to do that for you. And don’t do shortcuts, they (almost always) don’t work. Instead, hire a professional expert link building agency for improved visibility; make sure they’re trustworthy, skilled, and have results to prove it.
Your idea might be the next Minecraft; all you have to do is boost your visibility to get there – you never know. Notch surely didn’t.
“I expected it (Minecraft) to be about six to twelve months of work, and hoped that it might earn enough money to fund development of a subsequent game.” – Markus “Notch” Persson, The New Yorker.
What Drives Authority in Geek Culture
Earning authority is a lot of work, but it’s more than worth it.
Here’s what authority means in geek culture.
Comic and Pop Blogs
Does anyone even remember the time before we had comic and pop culture blogs?
They’ve been around forever, and the reason for that is consistency. They’re still highly relevant because people trust their reviews and commentary, which they produce on a regular basis.
And it’s not that only long-time fans keep them alive; new readers recognize their value, too. A lot of them use these sites when deciding on which series or storylines to dive into.
A strong review on a respected blog can give a title that flew under the radar the attention it needs to go viral.
Gaming News Outlets
If you’re thinking about picking up a new game or you want to know more about upcoming titles, go to a gaming news site (e.g., IGN, GameSpot, Kotaku, Polygon, Rock Paper Shotgun, etc.).
When any of these bring attention to an indie release or a niche project, they can push something small/insignificant into stardom.
Aside from reviews, these sites also focus on various discussions (e.g., monetization, the state of the industry, new releases, etc.).
Fan Wikis and Community Sites
Official publishers rank pretty high in search results for obvious reasons, but what’s interesting is that fan wikis and community-driven platforms often outrank them.
Players and readers trust these sites because they’re built by fans themselves who care deeply about their content and constantly update it.
The sites are living encyclopedias, and over time, they shape how people view franchises because they’re the ones deciding which details to highlight and which ones fade into the background.
In many cases, wikis are the first place new fans go to make sense of a universe, and for good reason.
Tech/Entertainment Sites
Mainstream tech/entertainment sites are still very much relevant; they’re an integral part of helping push geek culture forward.
It’s the media exposure and mainstream coverage combined with trendiness that provide geek culture (and similar subcultures) with popularity and ultimately legitimacy—especially when it comes to people who aren’t part of the core community. This is also how geek culture grows.
This coverage grants geek culture legitimacy in the eyes of readers who are not part of the core community.
| “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.” – Pierre Bourdieu, ‘Distinction’ |
Conclusion
Geek culture has always been about underdogs and heroes you didn’t expect, which is exactly how online authority works. A scrappy blog could become a powerhouse and shape how people think and play.
That’s because passion and authority have a lot to do with geek culture.
So it’s not a question of whether authority matters but who’ll be able to earn it.
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