Who needs dinner and a movie when you can spend a date discussing the finer points of Middle Earth or your computer’s processing power?

Surprising, but true, there’s a wealth of geeks out there whose quest to find love is more difficult than any quest in ‘World of Warcraft.’ The ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Harry Potter’ singles are out there, it’s just a matter of finding them in the sea of geek naivety. (You’d be shocked to know how many girls don’t even know what planet Spock is from.)

Luckily, there is a beacon of hope for all loveless geeks. ‘Geek2Geek,’ a dating Web site tailored toward matching single geeks, knows that geeks are far more interested in playing ‘Call of Duty’ than enjoying long walks on the beach.

‘It would be better for geeks to go on a site where everybody who was there wanted to meet someone who was outside the mainstream of interests,’ said Spencer Koppel, founder of Geek2Geek, in an e-mail.

Rather than describing the perfect date, users can attract a partner by describing the perfect fight between Superman and Batman. (For the record, Batman would win.) Here, geeks are free to act like themselves, where a common ground has already been established.

No longer must a geek’s homemade battle axe and Viking helmet be kept a dirty secret. Koppel said having others to confide in and support each other about social taboos is exactly what geeks need. While most people can cry to one another when they fail a test or lose a job, ‘Lost’ geeks also need a shoulder to cry on after the series finale.

‘Though it’s difficult to be a geek, especially a younger geek, the very qualities that make someone a geek are the ones that give them strength and teach them to survive in the world,’ Koppel said.

According to the Web site, geeks are actually better lovers than any other person in the world because they look through shallow requirements, like beauty and money, and accept people for who they really are. That’s mostly true, except for the money part. Life-size Master Chief statues aren’t cheap, you know.

Another problem the site tries to solve is the geek’s public image. Just because geeks’ interests don’t jive with the vast majority, it doesn’t mean they can’t function in society. Just ask a geek who their favorite Jedi Knight is and they’ll never stop talking to you.

Apparently, people who can’t function in society are actually nerds. Nerds, which Koppel said he tries to differentiate from geeks, are the ones who carry the negative social stigma. ‘The word ‘nerd’ is almost never used on the site,’ Koppell said.

While the site seems great for guys, Koppel said Geek2Geek struggles with attracting a larger female presence. But instead of looking at them as girls, the site has to look at them like any other geek. ‘That’s been a challenge,’ Koppel said. ‘But we try to focus on theirinterests — vampires, ‘Harry Potter,’ Renaissance fairs, for example — to find them.’
 

And just because the site exists, that doesn’t mean nerds can’t find love anywhere else. As the site says, ‘being a geek is an asset.’ As Koppel said, geeks aren’t nerds, so interacting with potential lady friends shouldn’t be too difficult. Just save the Darth Vader helmet for the third date. Not that I would know. While it’s great for geeks to have a product that places their interests together, a geek doesn’t need to be with another geek in order to be truly happy. Though, having ‘his’ and ‘hers’ lightsabers would be pretty sweet.

Flash Steinbeiser is a sophomore communications and rhetorical studies and writing major and the feature editor. And yes, the rumors are true. Those who do date him are called ‘Lady Flash.’ He can be reached at ansteinb@syr.edu.

 

Published on March 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm