For those who have ever found a cool stick and felt the impulse to show it off, there is an internet community of millions that wants to see it.
"Stick Nation" is a worldwide movement that thrives on irreverent, fantastical and downright wholesome descriptions of sticks and the people who rank them. An account posting videos of people and their sticks has nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. On TikTok, it's known, appropriately, as StickTok.
There are posts about sticks shaped like hands, ones that resemble snakes, slingshot sticks, wizard staffs, curved canes and spiraled, twisted and beetle-gnawed sticks. The sticks are said to have mystical powers, and the puns are plentiful, like the "Log Ness Monster," found on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland.
"It's of course useful to fight your enemies, because it's quite light and sturdy," says one poster about his moss-covered stick in Latvia before adding that it boasts its own ecosystem populated by "tiny little people [who] actually live there and do work 9 to 5."
"I just encountered this beautiful stick on the street, and I think it's trying to show me something," says another as she pans from the stick up the street. "Can you help me translate the stick language?"
But the movement taps into something deeper than people just lightheartedly showing off their finds. The men who helped launch the cause are hoping to use it to get people off their phones and out into nature.
An origin story
It started with a single stick found on the side of a Utah trail in 2023. It was weathered and worn down, but had "some excellent grain on it" and a "nice grip," said Boone Hogg and Logan Jugler.
Hogg and Jugler thought it would be funny to create a stick review account, and post a video describing the stick and its advantageous properties.
@officialstickreviews Epic lacrosse stick found in Upstate New York 🥍🪵🫡 #explore #fyp #sticktok #sticknation #nature ♬ original sound - Leyna
Their account was originally meant as an inside joke with friends, but others soon found it and it took off from there. Then The New York Times wrote about them and their follower count skyrocketed.
Now, their community of "Stickheads" numbers in the millions and stretches across all seven continents. It has its own lexicon as well as several notable celebrity adherents, like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dermot Mulroney
What makes a good stick?
Hogg and Jugler do not consider themselves stick gatekeepers. "We try and not be like an art gallery for sticks. We just want to share sticks," Hogg said.
They field hundreds of stick videos a day, all while working full-time jobs. (Hogg is a physician assistant and Hogg works in marketing and music production.) The community has developed its own language. There are "modded" sticks, which have been carved or altered in some way by human hands. And there are "natty" sticks, which come as they are. Sticks are ranked on their curves, their "aura" and their lore.
Hogg says one of his favorite sticks was one passed down to a grandson from his grandfather. It is embedded with patches and medals from the many trails the grandfather had trekked.
"I love the ones that have a story, but also some sort of kind of sentimental value to them," he said
Controversy in the community
Every internet movement has its arguments and Stick Nation is no different. Theirs just came from the literal ends of the Earth.
"I'm in Antarctica and there are no sticks here. Nothing grows and we can't bring sticks either. I found an ice stick. Does this count?" queries a message to Stick Nation.
"The council must assemble," one commenter quips.
"The fact that 'you're not allowed to bring sticks' means that someone tried to bring sticks and that warms my heart," writes another. There was some back and forth over whether the inorganic compound would qualify. In the end, Stick Nation allowed the submission.
"Ultimately everyone was like, You know what? It's from Antarctica," Jugler said. "This is an Antarctica stick."
What's next for Stick Nation?
"We really want to turn the page and the community into kind of getting them off their phones and into nature and interacting with each other and connecting," Hogg said. "So that's a big goal for us this year."
Hogg and Jugler recently held a "Stick of the Year" competition, which Marcus Barrick won with his "Ancient Energy Sword." They are now planning "Stick Quests," where people will be sent on real-life searches for specific sticks. They'll have a "Travel Log," in which members of Stick Nation can pass the same stick off to each other.
And they also have a book coming out that will feature all the cool sticks you can shake a stick at.
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