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Nerdfighter Ning

website community · in 79 videos (2007–2012)

The Nerdfighter community site built on Ning in 2008, where everyone could have a profile, pictures, videos and blogs. From 2009 volunteer Ningmasters featured content and moderated its forums; by 2012 it was one of many places Nerdfighteria gathered, alongside Tumblr, Facebook and Reddit.

Videos by year: 2007: 1 · 2008: 38 · 2009: 26 · 2010: 5 · 2011: 6 · 2012: 3

Also known as: the Ning, Nerdfighters Ning

Website: nerdfighters.ning.com

Threads

Also named in the threads: 'In your pants' suffix game (2007) · Question Tuesday: weekly Tuesday question days for nerdfighters (2007) · John's coinage 'nerdfighter-like' for Nerdfighter romance (2007) · Sarah's Green Green Manifesto: John and Sarah's household green changes (2007) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to write and send blurbs of 13 Little Blue Envelopes for a vote (2008) · John asks Nerdfighters for questions for his world-record Question Tuesday (2008) · John invites Nerdfighters to request a visit to their city on Eventful (2008) · Hank: dress as Carrie Bradshaw, punishment for his 4:16 video (2008) · John asks Nerdfighters what else DFTBA could stand for (2009) · John asks Nerdfighters to spend the P4A 2009 days commenting, rating and favoriting videos via the live show (2009) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to email well wishes for injured Ningmaster Tom to his family (2010)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

DFTBA (6) · Paper Towns (7) · YouTube (12) · Brotherhood 2.0 forum (3) · in your pants (4) · Tumblr (4) · Question Tuesday (4) · Peeps (2) · Sydney Green (3) · Reddit (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

  • 2007-12-31 · Dec 31: Goodbye Brotherhood 2.0 — both: Addressing all of YouTube, the song says hello to whatever comes next, toasts a thousand more secret projects, says they fell in love with nerdfighting, and greets 2008. — 00:03:00
    • John tells Nerdfighters the brothers will see them weekly in January. — 00:03:31

2008

  • 2008-01-04 · Nerdfighting in 2008, Pakistan, and Hillary Clinton — announcement: John announces that nerdfighting will become more collaborative in 2008: a new site built on Ning where everyone can have a Nerdfighter profile, pictures, videos and blogs. — 00:00:00
  • 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) · Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! — announcement: Hank launches the Nerdfighting Blurbing Book Club: the brothers and participating Nerdfighters read a book every two weeks and each writes a blurb of ten words or less. — 00:01:31
  • 2008-02-14 · The Puff Pwns Gravity — ask: John: To recreate that feeling, John asks Nerdfighters to comment on this video at the Ning, visit each other's profiles to wish happy Valentine's Day, and maybe make new friends. — 00:03:30
  • 2008-02-26 · Best Wishes! — ask: John: To take part in the Blurbing Book Club and maybe win prizes, Nerdfighters must write a blurb of 13 Little Blue Envelopes in 10 words or less and post it as a Ning blog post by Sunday (2 March 2008) midnight. — 00:02:12
  • 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) · Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club — announcement: John announces the winner of the first Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club: a blurb that is an anagram of Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. — 00:01:30
  • 2008-04-14 · PAPER TOWNS-TACULAR — announcement: John: Until publication John will give away as many ARCs to Nerdfighters as he can; today everyone commenting on YouTube or the Ning goes in a hat for this galley. — 00:01:41
  • 2008-05-06 · Hank Would Think This Is Awesome: The Project — announcement: John's tripod is a stack of new Paper Towns galleys; he will give an advance reader's copy to one Nerdfighter whose entry is included in the birthday project. — 00:01:50
  • 2008-06-26 · Don't Suck on That Bone — announcement: John: For thing six, John brings back the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club; its new book is The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. — 00:01:47
  • 2008-08-02 · Catcher in the Rye, Part 1 — ask: John invites discussion of this and anything else in the first 15 chapters in the official Catcher in the Rye thread he started on the Ning. — 00:03:38
  • 2008-09-21 · The Pwning of Oprah — John reads YouTube's most-subscribed directors list: the Vlogbrothers have 41,818 subscribers and Oprah 41,365, so they have 'pwned' Oprah. (playful) — 00:00:50
  • 2008-10-08 (said on 2008-10-07, implied) · Hanks actual Vlog — announcement: Hank says the Nerdfighters' punishment is for the brothers to vlog Brotherhood 2.0-style for an entire month. — 00:01:01
  • 2008-12-26 · Skoodilypooping — announcement: John says that to wrap up the Paper Towns edition of the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club he will do two videos about the book, ideally answering questions. — 00:02:36
  • …and 54 statements more in 2008 — all statements of 2008

2009

  • 2009-01-27 · Before Looking for Alaska… — announcement: John announces that a few volunteer Ningmasters will soon feature new content on the Ning's main page, organize and moderate its forums and raise its awesomeness. — 00:02:09
  • 2009-02-18 (said on 2009-02-17, implied) · Winners and Winners and Ningmasters — announcement: Hank announces, for himself and John, that the Ningmasters have been selected. — 00:01:19
  • 2009-04-23 · DFTBA — Hank says the song was not all his work and thanks the Nerdfighters who suggested DFTBA acronyms and those who illustrated them. — 00:04:13
  • 2009-06-10 · Eating a FAT SANDWICH — announcement: John: To pay further penance, John promises to answer the first 317 questions asked in comments, particularly on the Ning. — 00:03:46
  • 2009-09-08 · My Puppy's SECRET SHAME (and Paper Towns) — announcement: John: To celebrate, John will give away one Paper Towns paperback a day for 14 days to his favourite 10-word comment on YouTube or the Ning. — 00:01:36
  • 2009-09-28 · Paper Towns Winners and Ningmasters — announcement: John announces the last ten Paper Towns paperback winners: a song-challenge winner chosen from many great songs, and nine 10-word comment winners. — 00:01:40
  • 2009-12-06 · LOSERS!!!! — announcement: John calls the balloon challenge a way of limbering up for the Project for Awesome, coming as always on December 17th. — 00:02:54
  • 2009-12-08 · Announcing the 2009 Project for Awesome!!! — announcement: Hank announces the Project for Awesome on December 17th, less than 10 days away since it is December 8th. — 00:02:05
  • 2009-12-13 · Eyelash Malaria — announcement: John says that this year (2009) in the Project for Awesome he will make a video in support of malaria research, joking that it's because curing malaria will make him rich. — 00:02:05
  • 2009-12-15 · In Which A Secret Is Revealed — John defines the P4A: an annual tradition where many make videos for charities and many more rate, favorite and comment on them, so for one day YouTube's most popular videos are about decreasing world suck. — 00:00:25
  • 2009-12-17 · THE 2009 PROJECT FOR AWESOME!!! — announcement: John announces that it is time for the 2009 Project for Awesome. — 00:00:00
  • 2009-12-20 · Awesome Project Is Awesome — John says the 2009 Project for Awesome was the awesomest ever, putting three years worth of awesome into 48 hours. (playful) — 00:00:27
  • …and 45 statements more in 2009 — all statements of 2009

Also named in: John Loves Amsterdam, HANKO DE MAYO! Happy Birthday Hank!

2010

  • 2010-01-08 · GUS HAS NO FUZZ! — John credits the Nerdfighters who illustrated the Gus is a Bug video book: Dr. Noise, Kaiti, Becca, Andrea, Minna, Sara Roscoe, Suzanne and SamWiseGirl. — video description
    • John says Nerdfighters drew their own versions of Gus is a Bug, which he likes even more than the original, and he made them into a video book that will introduce his baby to Nerdfighteria. — 00:00:58
    • John thanks the Nerdfighter illustrators, regrets not including more, and thanks one who drew Gus as a non-bug larva (species name unclear) for reminding him smart is cooler than cute. — 00:02:03
  • 2010-02-26 (said on 2010-02-27, implied) · Ningmaster Tom — Hank says Tom, known as NingMasterTom, a graphic-design student, is more or less the de facto leader of the community at nerdfighters.com and has done much to make Nerdfighteria better. — 00:00:49
  • 2010-03-01 · The Marriage Ref SUCKS — ask: John points Nerdfighters to a letter on the Ning in which Tom's family thanks them for their letters, and asks them to keep writing to NingMasterTom at gmail.com. — 00:00:00
  • 2010-03-10 · New Tour! New Book! (Remember Books?) Your Q's A'ed! — announcement: John says he has five advance reader copies of Will Grayson, Will Grayson at home and will give all of them away to random commenters here or on the Ning. — 00:01:07
  • 2010-04-02 · Will Grayson, Will Grayson — announcement: John announces that the YouTube usernames of the advance reader's copy winners are in the description. — 00:03:00

2011

  • 2011-02-09 · NERDFIGHTERS UNITE! (in your pants) — John notes much conversation on Tumblr, the Ning, YouTube and Twitter about Nerdfighteria changing as it grows and how to keep the community strong, and offers his two cents. — 00:00:56
    • John says Nerdfighteria needs better ways to interact: YouTube comments don't lend themselves to relationships or collaboration, and the Ning confuses new users, though Ningmasters are working on it. — 00:02:11
  • 2011-05-23 · Eating the Unicorn — John recalls that when the Yeti was pregnant with Henry, Nerdfighteria illustrated his favourite out-of-print picture book, Gus Is a Bug, so he could read it to Henry. — 00:01:23
    • John says Suzanne Van Leir went the extra mile, turning her Gus Is a Bug illustrations into an actual book that Henry loves, that is, chews on; he calls it amazing. — 00:01:32
  • 2011-09-12 · Adorable Baby and Insufficient Cartography — John says the great thing is that the brothers are not the only Nerdfighters: thousands work together through YouTube comments, Twitter, Tumblr, the Ning and Your Pants to improve the maps, making better maps than anyone could alone. — 00:01:50
  • 2011-10-24 · Signing Psychosis Takes Over — ask: John: At Holiday Park in Indianapolis, John asks Nerdfighters to explain the park's weird fake ruins, hoping their combined research powers can figure them out. — 00:02:07
    • John says the ruins in the Indianapolis park were built as fake ruins but have kind of become real ruins through decades of neglect. (hedged) — 00:02:16
    • Your Pants, which would suit this research, is still broken, so John suggests a forum on the Ning or the YouTube comments instead. (playful) — 00:02:30
  • …and 1 statement more in 2011 — all statements of 2011

Also named in: WE ARE 812 YEARS OLD

2012

  • 2012-06-19 · Solving Your Problems! — recommendation: John: To find local Nerdfighters, John points to Facebook, the Ning and Your Pants, where there are many location-specific Nerdfighter groups. (playful) — 00:03:16
  • 2012-11-23 · Black Friday: An Accident of History — Hank thanks the Nerdcrafteria Minecraft server, Tumblr, the Ning and other online places where Nerdfighters gather, and the people who watch and support his work, even sappy videos like this. — 00:03:14
  • 2012-12-11 · Economics and Dentistry: YOUTUBE'S FAVORITE TOPICS — John says Nerdfighteria used to be a YouTube-based phenomenon but now has many places, listing Minecrafteria, Facebook groups, the Ning, Our Pants, Reddit, Tumblr and Kiva, and probably more. — 00:00:58