Who are these Vlogbrothers, anyway?

So, if you’re into young adult lit (or probably books at all), you’ve definitely heard about The Fault in Our Stars by now. John Green’s newest book smashed pre-ordering records last year when he announced the title and the fact that he would sign every single pre-order, and it’s topping best selling charts nationwide now. John Green is no authorial unknown: his first book, Looking for Alaska, won the Printz, and he followed it up with Printz honor book An Abundance of Katherines. He is, to say the least, a heavyweight of young adult lit.

But if all you ever did was read John Green’s books, you would be missing out on the source of most of his cultural capital. Not because he’s got a million followers on Twitter (although he does) and not because he frequently posts bits of internet ephemera on Tumblr (even though he does). No, the essence of the internet juggernaut (juggerinternuat?) of John Green comes from one simple project: The Vlogbrothers.

…did that not clear anything up for you? Let me start again, from the beginning. Way, way back in 2007 (did the internet even exist then?!), John and his brother–musician and all-around black belt geek Hank Green–decided that they would no longer communicate textually (you know, with text messages and emails and letters). Instead, the brothers would communicate via (very public) YouTube videos.

Sounds kinda weird, right? Not the kind of thing that hundreds of thousands of teens, tweens, adults, and everyone in between would watch on a weekly basis? Except we do! As John and Hank continued to post video-blogs (vlogs, get it?) to each other, their following slowly grew. Inside jokes emerged (John’s wife is referred to as The Yeti because of the fact that she’s never caught on film), a vocabulary began to form (if someone tells you to DFTBA, they aren’t being vulgar. They’re just reminding you: Don’t Forget to Be Awesome), and a community of Nerdfighters (they don’t fight nerds. They’re just folks who are made of awesome and fight to decrease worldsuck) grew up around the two brothers.

Today, John and Hank Green juggle a seemingly endless number of projects related to and growing from their Nerdfighting roots. There’s VidCon, a celebration of online video that allows people who know each other from YouTube to meet, collaborate, and hone their craft. There’s a record label (DFTBA Records, naturally), that signs on YouTube artists and gets them the exposure they deserve. There are their new, slicker YouTube shows, SciShow and Crash Course, where the brothers each educate their viewers about their favorite subjects in their signature irreverent tones. There are t-shirts (Do. Not. Google. Pizza John unless you are prepared for mild mustache-related nightmares). There’s a foundation (The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck. These boys are all about it does what it says on the tin.) that raises money for worthy causes.

But, really, it all kind of started with two brothers talking to each other and letting us listen in. If you’d like to dip your toe into the waters of the Vlogbrothers, you’ve got several plans of attack. You completists out there can start at the beginning and go to the end, but, um, I hope you don’t have anywhere to be for a while, because the Green brothers are quickly approaching a thousand videos. If you’re feeling like you just wanna be part of this awesome community already, then stop reading me and just start with their newest video! If you’re somewhere in the middle, I’d totally recommend this Vlogbrother’s created list of the 20 Essential Vlogbrother’s videos.

Now that  you’re in the know about the Vlogbrothers, join me on Sunday for a recap of possibly the coolest author event of 2012–the Tour de Nerdfighteria.

And, guys?

DFTBA.

– Ariel Cummins, currently reading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater