# Age misperception on the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155 "2002-08-22T23:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/1 "2002-08-22T23:29:55Z")
I recently met a few Dopers whom I had never met before. As we were talking, the Doper commented that I was not what was expected. The Doper assumed that I was about 65 years old, and based it on my writing style. In reality, I am nowhere near that age (I’ve probably posted my age at one time or another on the boards). In any event, have you ever met someone in person whom you’d only met on a message board and then were surprised to find out that they were much older or younger than you imagined them? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![HomeSlice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9d8465/32.png) [@HomeSlice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HomeSlice)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/2 "2002-08-22T23:41:09Z")
people look at me and think i am 14 - but in reality i am 20. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/3 "2002-08-22T23:52:01Z")
I have a tendency to assume everyone on the Internet is younger than 35, so it always surprises me when someone turns out to be retired. Age-ism I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/4 "2002-08-22T23:52:42Z")
Usually I unconsciously assume people are right around my age (33, BTW). If I read a post by someone clearly a lot more knowledgeable than I on some topic, I tend to assume they are older. I’ve been surprised quite a few times on this board to find out someone I’d assumed was older than I was in fact several years younger. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/5 "2002-08-22T23:54:34Z")
I’ve met a few people IRL from chat and messageboards and though I already knew their age before meeting, I can say that they were nothing like I imagined them in person. You would think that chatting with someone for over a year and then meeting them would at least give you some idea of what kind of person they are. Maybe it’s just me but I was quite surprised a few times :D. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/6 "2002-08-23T00:07:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*I have a tendency to assume everyone on the Internet is younger than 35, so it always surprises me when someone turns out to be retired. Age-ism I suppose. \*\* Same here. Most of my misperceptions of Dopers are age mistakes. I usually get genders correct. Actually, obvious teenagers aside, I tend to think _everyone’s_ roughly 35. Makes me wonder what the Dopers I’ve met thought when they met me. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/7 "2002-08-23T00:11:23Z")
I always assume posters are older than me…in their 30’s or more. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/8 "2002-08-23T00:25:21Z")
I thought Frannie was almost 40. Well, until she told me she was far from that age in chat, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/9 "2002-08-23T00:26:49Z")
true Zev- I’d figured you for around 40-50. You seem mature. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/10 "2002-08-23T01:11:13Z")
I dunno - how old do I sound? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/11 "2002-08-23T01:17:35Z")
Repetitive. 😃 I kinda thought **zev** was an older feller, too. He seems so… wise. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/12 "2002-08-23T01:56:51Z")
It always surprises me when I find out how old David Simmons is…and everybody seems to assume I am much younger then I am as well, but you can blame that on immaturity ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/13 "2002-08-23T02:16:39Z")
In your case, **zev** , I think ‘Zev’ is part of it. IANAJ, but I don’t get the sense that even that many Orthodox Jews after, say, 1965 were naming their sons ‘Zev’. Maybe not even that many after 19_4_5, AFAIK (but what the hell do _I_ know?). While ‘Zev’ may or may not be your IRL name, people normally don’t tend to choose MB handles that are a whole lot older-sounding than they are themselves. On the subject of names and ages, whatever happened to all the women named Betty? You can hardly find one under 55, maybe even under 60. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/14 "2002-08-23T02:26:02Z")
I’m another one that figures everyone is in their 30s. And white, unless they say otherwise. Maybe it’s just because of my life experiences - I’ve tended to hang around with people like me. I am in my 30s, and white. (This is not a racist statement. There are just not people of any other race around where I’ve mostly lived.) ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/15 "2002-08-23T03:18:14Z")
Another poster here who had a mental picture of **Zev** being in his 50s. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/16 "2002-08-23T03:33:51Z")
I pictured Zev in probably mid-late 30s. I am older than most picture, I think, but that’s only due to my immaturity. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/17 "2002-08-23T06:41:56Z")
Everyone I talk to assumes I’m about 4 years younger than I am… I have the maturity of an 11 year old. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/18 "2002-08-23T07:01:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LaurAnge \* > \*\*I thought Frannie was almost 40. > > Well, until she told me she was far from that age in chat, anyway. \*\* And you’re not the only one. Everyone seems to think I’m older than I am. I’m 23! But I take it as a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/19 "2002-08-23T07:53:36Z")
Most people IRL mistake me for someone much younger. I have no idea how old people here think I am. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155/20 "2002-08-23T11:37:50Z")
Regarding **zev** , I always thought he was young…early 30’s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-misperception-on-the-sdmb/125155.md?page=2)