One-Fifth Of Americans Are Proud To Be Geeks

America: Land of the free, home of the geek?

In celebration of National Geek Pride Day (May 25), a survey released by IT staffing service Modis reveals some very interesting statistics about the nascent social acceptability of being a geek.

According to the survey, 17 percent of Americans self-identify as geeks. I don't have solid numbers in front of me, but I have to assume this is a monumental rise since the days when Robert Carradine was battling the dark powers of Ted McGinley.

Speaking of nerds, the survey makes a special point of addressing the differences between that term and geek. It seems that though nearly one-fifth of our population would write the latter on their OKCupid profile, very few are willing to also label themselves as nerds. Though 61 percent of respondents would call themselves nerds, the vast majority (87 percent) see a tangible difference between "geek" and its seemingly pejorative cousin. Read more...