Editing Geek Code (section)

{{Short description|Letters and symbols used by geeks to describe themselves}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Código geek, AA 2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Geek code example, which opens by stating that the user is a Geek of Technical Writing (GTW) who usually wears jeans and a t-shirt (d-@), is of average height and above-average weight (s:+), and is aged between 25 and 29 (a-).]]

The '''Geek Code''', developed in 1993, is a series of letters and symbols used by self-described "[[geek]]s" to inform fellow geeks about their personality, appearance, interests, skills, and opinions. The idea is that everything that makes a geek individual can be [[Code|encode]]d in a compact format which only other geeks can read. This is deemed to be [[Algorithmic efficiency|efficient]] in some sufficiently geeky manner.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/culturesofcomput00susa |url-access=registration |pages=10–20 |title=The cultures of computing |publisher=Wiley |author=Susan Leigh Star |author-link=Susan Leigh Star |year=1995|isbn=9780631192824 }}</ref>

It was once common practice to use a geek code as one's email or Usenet signature, but the last official version of the code was produced in 1996, and it has now largely fallen out of use.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last1=Romenesko |first1=James |title=The Code of the Geeks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/17/the-code-of-the-geeks/764cb760-d6f4-4ba2-860c-e1d1bcc69919/?noredirect=on |access-date=14 November 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=17 May 1996}}</ref><ref name="geekcode"/>

A number of similar codes were developed for other subcultures, such as a Goth Code for the [[Goth subculture]], and the [[Natural Bears Classification System]] for gay men.