As a confirmed life-long computer nerd I have been been active online for many years, but only recently I have started to feel like part of a growing network of geeky girls. This is partly thanks to twitter, but mostly due to Geek Girls Network™ and it’s enthusiastic (and of course geeky) creator, @geekgirls (Kristin Rielly).

I have previously made female friends online, but I had never before encountered a platform that was so welcoming and comfortable for girls who are geeks. It’s too easy for the female minority to get drowned out on mostly male forums, and it can prove hard to be yourself when constantly confronted with either flirtation or abuse. The other option was girly forums, which are well.. girly. Great if you want to talk about fashion, weddings, soaps*.. or whatever it is normal chicks talk about… but for those of us with traditionally “boyish” hobbies nothing could be more nightmarish.

(* as you can see I have no clue)

Twitter definitely made a big difference by introducing me to lots of women with similar interests. Realising that there are plenty of girls who don’t find geekiness odd is a welcome surprise, which has lead me to lots of info, laughs, links, blogs, events and friendships. I’m not saying that I only want to talk to girls just like me, geek boys are great too (I even married one), and I will even be friends with non-geeks. It’s just a welcome change to have things in common with so many women, and it’s kind of nice to feel like part of a group.

Since joining twitter and therefore discovering Geek Girls Network™ I have found and made friends with far too many great ladies to list. These smart, funny, passionate and knowledgeable women post about a range of topics including games, action movies, sci-fi, music, comics, food, technology, design and all things nerdy. Through these women I have found countless great sites and blogs devoted to the things I love, which has encouraged me to post plenty of geeky nonsense here and submit content to geekgirlsnetwork myself.

GGN Badges:

The Geek Girls Network™ was created almost by accident, but has evolved into a thriving community due to demand and enthusiasm from it’s members. In early 2009 Kristin, set up the @geekgirls twitter account to share with a friend. The friend was otherwise engaged, but luckily for us she decided to continue posting as @geekgirls. Due to her great tweets, the effort she put in and the simple genius of the name she quickly became friendly with plenty of similar minded women on twitter and realised geek girl related content was in demand. Seeing the potential, Kristin launched the Geek Girls Network™, a blog site devoted to all things geeky with content supplied by  .. you guessed it.. geeky girls.

Us gals were clearly just waiting for such a platform, as the site quickly filled with great content supplied by a variety of women, and an appreciative audience of both male and female geeks developed. Since it’s launch the site has continued to improve and has benefited from a great new design, fun competitions, a growing network and great content. It’s a great platform for any suitable blogger looking for a new audience, geek girls who don’t have a blog of their own but have something to share, and anyone who wants to be part of a group that shares their interests.

I have watched the site and network develop over the last few months, enjoying the content, the introductions to great women and links to many great geek sites and resources. I submitted my own article,  Top 10 Women Comic Book Characters, which got lots of links, retweets, comments and was even discussed on the Forbidden Planet blog. Although it was a little scary, I really enjoyed sharing my writing and opinions with a different audience. I love being part of a group or girls that share my interests, and I can’t wait to decide on my next possible submission. I would recommend taking part to any geek girls out there, in whatever way suits you. Be it submitting an article, promoting the site, displaying a GGN badge, commenting on posts or most importantly, reading and enjoying the site.

I have no doubt that @geekgirls will continue to improve the site, and with support from the group will provide plenty of new content and ideas. Personally I would like to thank her for all the hard work she has put into setting it all up, maintaining the site, promoting the the network and generally being one of my favourite geek girls. Here’s to a great year for girls who are geeks and the Geek Girls Network™!