Digital subculture: A geek meaning of style

Abstract

Recent scholarship in critical/cultural studies and ethnography has suggested studies of youth subculture can no longer be solely centered around musical preference and that the Internet may be a new resource for the affiliation and expression of subcultural identity. This study furthers this scholarship through the analysis of one such group: the "geeks" Through examination of Internet sites devoted to the subculture, this analysis argues that geeks who affiliate in self-assigned Web-based chat rooms demonstrate the characteristics, community, and style common to the expanding conceptualizations of Internet-based subculture. This study adds strength to the argument that the Internet can simultaneously be a gathering site for subculturalists and a medium for expression of subcultural identity. © 2009 Sage Publications.