New Research Abolishes Geek Stereotype In Digital Community

Despite popular belief about web developers being reserved, new research has found they are actually outgoing and enjoy socialising with friends in their spare time.

The study, of over 1,000 WordPress developers by website hosting and domain names company 34SP.com, found over a quarter (28%) of those asked choose to spend their free time socialising. This flies in the face of the accepted idea that these so-called ‘geeks’ spend much of their spare time coding and surfing the web.

The research also found that nearly all (98%) of those surveyed deem themselves liberal.

The study touched on the subject of appropriate office attire, with exactly 50 per cent of those surveyed saying wearing a t-shirt is suitable for business meetings. Over a quarter (26%) also felt jeans are acceptable to wear to a meeting.

On the other hand, some 30 per cent of those surveyed said wearing a hoodie to a business meeting was unacceptable, and 21 per cent deem wearing trainers to a business meeting inappropriate. The research therefore shows that not all of those working in the industry follow the stereotypically ‘casual’ uniform.

Daniel Foster, technical director at 34SP.com, said: “There is a perception that developers can be quite introverted, but our research has found that the opposite is actually true.

“The belief that developers behave like geeks is something that has been around for quite some time. We decided to do our own research to look into the stereotypical thinking about workers in the digital industry and unearth the truth behind some of these ideas.

“Our research has found that WordPress developers are quite sociable and liberal people, and don’t spend enormous amounts of their spare time buried in perceived geeky hobbies.

“We are thrilled to be helping to tackle the common misconceptions that many people have about web developers.”

To obtain a more comprehensive view of the WordPress Survey data please reference this page; www.34sp.com/wordpress-website.

*The research was of over 1,000 WordPress users and developers.