The Gathering — nerdenes Mekka

Abstract

"The Gathering" is an established Easter ritual among the young devoted to high-technology in Norway. For five days hordes of young computer freaks gather in the city of Hamar. Here they link together in a gigantic network, practically and socially, in 1999 in fact the biggest temporary computer network in the world. For five days the party goes on — more than 4,000 youths play, compete, eat, sleep and socialise within the walls of the huge hall. The party is very well organised, a lot of people work voluntarily for weeks and some for months to run it.

The voluntaries who run the party belong mostly to a community of young people who might be characterised as "nerds". In creating a group identity, they oppose this picture of themselves as a social disabled nerd — a picture created by the mass media.

Humour plays an important role in their dialogue with the rest of society, and in the outlining of their culture they consciously stress values like co-operation, social relations and friendship, quite contrary to the general picture of the nerds.

The investigation is based on their extensive self-representations on their web sites, observations, interviews with key-persons from the crew, and an inter-active questionnaire designed for the youths participating at the party.