Technology currently plays a pretty major role in most people’s lives. This is true if it is normal to do things like use computers at work, text friends on your mobile phone or enjoy streaming the latest music to your tablet. This is quite a change from the past when tech was thought of as only for geeks or nerds. In some ways, this was no surprise, as those who you could class as being nerds had always been proud to show their love for tech – even when it made them outsiders to mainstream society.
As times have changed though, it has been interesting to see how the normalisation of tech in our lives has coincided with a destigmatisation of nerd culture. It is now cool to be a nerd and aspects of this culture, such as the movies people watch to how they dress, are now much more accepted in society. Many think that as it has become normal for people to use technology, nerd culture has lost much of its bad image which has led to more acceptance for stereotypically nerdy things.
But how are we seeing tech become more common in daily life and helping to destigmatise nerd culture as it goes?
Sports betting apps
Sports betting is a popular activity around the world in modern life and is no longer a niche activity which involves spending hours in smoke-filled bookmaker’s shops. Already popular around Europe for a while, recent changes to sports betting laws in the USA have also seen it on the rise there. Tech has been key to the way sports betting has taken off globally and online apps for betting are a great illustration of this.
These handy apps are easy to download and use on any tablet or smartphone. Once installed, a quick tap enables you to bet on any sport you want across numerous markets, from wherever you are. Many of these apps also carry breaking news to help inform your betting, stats, analysis and even cash out features. All this has led to tech-based apps becoming cool, sports betting becoming more convenient and people destigmatising nerd culture as they are used to having fun with tech now too.
Video game consoles and online gaming
Next to sports betting, video gaming has been given a real image overhaul thanks to the normalisation of tech in recent years. All older gamers will know that playing on consoles or PCs was once seen as a very nerdy thing to do. Developments in the quality of games available to play now — this Star Wars squadrons review shows what we mean, plus celeb endorsements for gaming and an acceptance of video games in mainstream culture has all helped change this view. In addition, it is now normal to see people playing video games based on comic book characters or films that were once looked down on as only for nerds.
The huge strides the sector has made in recent years around online and Cloud-gaming has also helped. This has led to gaming becoming more social, cooler and attracting more people than ever. Technology is key to gaming and people have begun to view nerd culture more positively as they have become used to it when playing games each day.
IoT and tech gadgets for the home
This is perhaps the last major way we have seen tech become normalised in a way that helps banish stigmas around nerd culture. Before it was normal to have voice-activated gadgets and smartphones which operated your curtains, these kinds of things were seen as the preserve of geeks. They were also usually looked down on by mainstream society.
The tech revolution in our homes has changed this by making gadgets and tech solutions like the Internet of Things something we all now love. As a result, it is normal for everyone to use this kind of tech regularly, which has made nerd culture cooler as a result.
Nerd culture and tech go hand in hand
Nerd culture has always been heavily influenced by technology – even when the rest of society had no real interest in it. Over time though, the normalisation of tech in society has seen it enter the mainstream and become valued by more people. This has in turn had a positive impact on so-called nerd culture and how people view it. Now that more of the general public use tech products or solutions, they do not look down on others who do. This greater level of understanding has also meant that the interests of nerds, such as video gaming, are no longer stigmatized or looked down upon.