saipii
It's much easier to be a social outsider when you're socially awkward. I don't think I've ever seen a nerd who is socially strong be outed from a group just for being nerdy...
This is coming from someone who was nerdy and socially awkward for much of middle and highschool and didn't really have friends. Once I started working on my social abilities (which is not easy, to be fair), making friends was easy.
Is this still the case in 2019?
I was friendless (not bullied) for much of middle and highschool (2006-2010ish) not because I was nerdy, but because I was socially awkward and didn't make any attempt to fix it until later in highschool. It feels like a lot of people are mad at the show making fun of socially awkward people, which is completely separate from being nerdy.