Okay, for sake of argument, I'm calling this rarely seen or noticed social group Geeksters. Hooray, it's half ten in the morning and I just coined a new word!
So, what's a Geekster? Geeksters could also be called 'Nu Geeks'. Mostly they were born into the 'Millenials' generation, which is the generation that comes after the notorious 'Generation X', (though older geeksters may hold a little more of Gen X's cynicism and liking for copious amounts of black clothing) this generation is worldly, but optimistic and very comfortable with technology. Geeksters are mostly white or asian, particularly east asian, and nearly always middle class. They tend to be either students studying up to University level or already have degrees or higher. Nearly all Geeksters have some sort of creative hobby; writing, drawing, sewing, making music, creating digital art or programming, and many either work or aspire to work in creative fields. They like to use new technology, particularly the internet, to share their work with the world.
This creative streak is largely what seperates Geeksters from plain ol' geeks. The Geekster tends to appreciate technology and culture on a less technical and more aesthetic level than the Geek. They often have a strongly defined personal 'style', which with female geeksters may well be influenced by the clothes of Japanese Harajuku fashion, incorperating gothic lolita elements. Geeksters love video games, but they have to be appealing either on a simple 'fun' level, or have rich, involving visuals and plot. They also love games with 'iconic' elements. Japanese games are particularly favoured in this group for their stylish, colourful visuals, clean gameplay and convoluted plotlines, as well as their cosplay-able characters. Having grown up with video games, the millenial generation see them as an everyday entertainment medium, not a child's toy.
To put it simply, the Geekster is the person who you see walking around 'New Look' carrying a 'Game' bag. They're equally as likely to buy video games as clothes, like comic books (particularly manga and indie titles) read webcomics regularly, like a few select sci-fi and fantasy shows and like to interact with their fandom creatively through cosplay, paper craft, fanart, fan fiction, websites, as well as creating their own original works.
I was going to post a selection of pictures here, but in the end I found just ONE picture that sums up 'Geekster' so perfectly I don't think any more could ever be better:
The twenty-something female members of small press manga group Sweatdrop wearing clothes with fanciful asian culture and manga inspired cosplay elements combined with general indie/hipster style hugging a Dalek. Sweatdrop:
http://www.sweatdrop.com/
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