NERDS UNITE

           An ever-expanding group called Nerdfighters is out to conquer "World Suck" ---- while still finding plenty of time to celebrate fantasyand sci-fi.
           Puppy-sized elephants.  The Yeti.  In your pants.  Decepticons.  Giant Squids of Anger.  French the Llama.  Warner Chilcott. Peeps.  Tiny chicken disease.
           Most likely, those strange phrases mean absolutely nothing to you.  They may just seem like vague plot elements of a nerdy comic book series----and you're wondering why I mentioned them at all.
           However, it is possible that you're quietly laughing to yourself and thinking of other phrases I could have added to that list.
           If so, you're a Nerdfighter, a member of a vast community that sprang up around what was originally just another YouTube video channel.
           Before you ask, no, Nerdfighters do not "fight nerds."  In fact, Nerdfighters actually celebrate all things nerdy and intelligent, and the only thing we fight against is "World Suck" (which is one of those rare things that means exactly what it sounds like).
           We do this by raising money for charity, encouraging reading and knowledge and spreading awareness about the environment.  Mainly, though, we just spend our time gushing over Harry Potter and "Star Trek" and talking about poetry.
            It all began back in 2007 with Brotherhood 2.0, a project created by two brothers, John and Hank Green.  The premise of the project was that they would cease all textual communication for a year and instead communicate through the use of vlogs on a YouTube channel aptly named "Vlogbrothers."
           As they worked through the first few months of the project, the brothers gained a steady following.  In one of those first videos, John misread a video game title as "Nerd Fighter."
           Even after realizing his mistake, he ran with the idea, talking about how being a nerd should be viewed positively and eventually even dubbing the viewers of the channel "Nerdfighters."
           "Why is being a nerd bad?"  John said in the video.  "Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I noticed you'd rather be intelligent than stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than vapid, that you believe there are more important things than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan.  Why is that?"
           It was then that the channel exploded with the birth of inside jokes among John, Hank and their viewers (including some of the strange words I mentioned earlier).
          The Nerdfighter catchphrase "Don't forget to be awesome" or, as it's more commonly known, DFTBA, also came about.
          As the yearlong Brotherhood 2.0 project ended, the Nerdfighter community (Nerdfighteria) had expanded beyond belief.
          More and more people who had always been on the outside looking in found Nerdfighteria to be a place where they were on the inside of something.......well, awesome.
          Because of how tight-knit the community had become, John and Hank decided to continue making videos even after the end of their project-----and they don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
          Every day, Nerdfighter, you are one ---- and the Vlogbrothers channel has more than 510,000 YouTube subscribers.
          Nerdfighters have come together to do incredible things, like the Project for Awesome, which raised more than $100,000 for charity last year, and filling three cargo planes named Harry, Ron and Hermione with $123,000 worth of supplies to Haiti after its 2010 earthquake.
          Nerdfighters have also spread powerful anti-bullying messages across the web and share creative projects with each other.
          "Being a Nerdfighter is special," says my 14-year-old sister, Kelly, who recently began watching Vlogbrothers videos.  "We do great things, and try to have positive approaches to life.  Our sense of community is just awesome.  It's so cool to find people interested in the weird things you like."
          I accidentally stumbled upon Nerdfighteria about two years ago and I had no idea how much it would end up meaning to me.
         Being a Nerdfighter is something beyond just an Internet community; it is a positive attitude that focuses on embracing creativity and making the world a better place.
         I Know that sounds cheesy, but, hey, I'm a nerd.  I'm allowed to get overly sentimental and un-ironically enthusiastic about stuff.
         To check out John and Hank's videos: www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers   or http://www.nerdfighters.com/