# average doper age?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 5, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625 "2002-12-05T03:59:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 10

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**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/181 "2002-12-08T21:53:14Z")

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I’m 26.

I remember the first time I participated in one of these “post your age” threads here, I was 23!

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**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/182 "2002-12-08T22:26:51Z")

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Have I posted in this one yet? I’m gonna say no. But I have after I hit submit.

I’m 25.

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**Author:** ![Shmoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@Shmoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmoo)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/183 "2002-12-08T22:28:54Z")

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Just your average Shmoo, here, 31.

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**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/184 "2002-12-09T01:42:08Z")

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44

Has anyone done the math to figure an average yet? I havent’ read the whole thread.

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**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/185 "2002-12-09T01:53:39Z")

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I’m 29. But I look 19!

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**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/186 "2002-12-09T02:04:10Z")

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1. But I look 20!

😃

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**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/187 "2002-12-09T02:30:34Z")

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1. 

I can’t believe I’m 32.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sKipping\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@sKipping\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sKipping_girl)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/188 "2002-12-09T02:38:12Z")

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wow i’m 17 and now i feel so young 😃

:eep! runs away and hides before the oldies try and steal my youth:

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/189 "2002-12-09T02:40:18Z")

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Wow, who would have ever imagined teens would want to hang with fogeys…and the other way around as well. 😃

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**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/190 "2002-12-09T02:49:37Z")

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I’m 138 years old, but of course I’m dead.

(Actually I’m 62 going for 90!) 😃

Geezer

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LucChiq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LucChiq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucChiq)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/191 "2002-12-09T03:11:44Z")

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25 here!!!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/192 "2002-12-09T05:53:56Z")

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```auto

The tally, through **LucChiq** :

173 respondents
**Age** [sup]1[/sup]:
Mean 32.12
Median 30
Mode 21
Max 62
Min 14
Std Dev 11.21

The difference between the mean and the median indicates that the population (at
least among those who made posts here) is skewed slightly towards youth, as can
be seen in the histogram:

  Age | Count
11-15 | **
16-20 | ************************
21-25 | *****************************
26-30 | ********************************
31-35 | ***************************
36-40 | *****************
41-45 | ***************
46-50 | **************
51-55 | ********
56-60 | ****
61-65 | *

I don't know if the sample is accurate enough to extrapolate to the SDMB population
in general. As a point of comparison, though (maybe valid, maybe not), the Census
Bureau's [November 2000 estimate](http://eire.census.gov/popest/archives/national/nation2/intfile2-1.txt) shows the US median/mean age as 36.6/35.9, and a
graph of the data shows twin population peaks of 35-44 and 10-19 year olds (actually,
the distribution of minors is a pretty flat graph).
**Board Age** [sup]2[/sup]:
Mean 15.64
Median 14
Mode 8
Max 45
Min 0
Std Dev 11.95

 B.A. | Count
  < 1 | ****
  1-6 | *******************************************
 7-12 | *********************************
13-18 | ********************************
19-24 | *********************
25-30 | ***************
31-36 | ***********
47-42 | ***********
43-48 | ***

This histogram is heavily skewed towards Dopers who have just recently registered.
**Post Count** :
Mean 715.25
Median 272
Mode 43
Max 7346
Min 5
Std Dev 1194.36

There is not enough room to plot the post-count distribution, but once again a
strong pattern of newbie-bias exists in the posts here -- of the 173 respondents,
112 have so far accumulated 500 or fewer posts, and there are 25 more Dopers who
have made between 501-1000 posts. Just these first two population slots account
for almost 80% of the posters here. This bias manifests itself look at the first
slot in detail:

# Posts | Count
  1-100 | **************************************************
101-200 | *********************
201-300 | *******************
301-400 | ***********
401-500 | ***********
 **Post Rate** (number of posts per day):
Mean 1.38
Median 0.88
Mode 0.19
Max 6.75
Min 0.03
Std Dev 1.45

   Rate | Count
0.0.0.5 | ********************************************************
0.5-1.0 | *************************************
1.0-1.5 | ***********************
1.5-2.0 | **********
2.0-2.5 | *************
2.5-3.0 | ***********
3.0-3.5 | **
3.5-4.0 | *****
4.0-4.5 | ***
4.5-5.0 | **
5.0-5.5 | ****
5.5-6.0 | 
6.0-6.5 | *
6.5-7.0 | **

Interesting. Although there appears to be no correlation between Board Age and Post
Rate (the correlation coefficient is 0.105), the histogram is once again heavily
skewed towards the infrequent posters. Perhaps it can be explained if we further
break down the first population slot, where the histogram isn't so strongly biased:

   Rate | Count
0.0-0.1 | *************
0.1-0.2 | *****************
0.2-0.3 | *********
0.3-0.4 | **********
0.4-0.5 | *******

_______________________________________

**Notes:**
 **1.** Age is taken as of the date of posting (e.g., when a poster says "I'll be 'Age X'
in 3 weeks," the age used for calculations is X-1).
**2.** Board Age is the number of months between today and a Doper's registration date.
For simplification, it is assumed that all registrations were made on the first day
of the month. I wasn't about to look up everyone's profiles to find the actual date.

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/193 "2002-12-09T06:15:52Z")

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Am I too late? 14 years old here, driving down the average. 😉

**Earthling** , cool!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![alex\_arg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@alex\_arg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alex_arg)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/194 "2002-12-09T06:18:58Z")

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Earthling i bow in reverence.

18 and counting.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/195 "2002-12-10T01:58:35Z")

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Thanks, **Earthling**. That rocks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/196 "2002-12-10T02:50:34Z")

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Nice chart, **Earthling**! Btw, I’m 17 (turn 18 on Friday 🙂 )

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/197 "2002-12-10T03:33:00Z")

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47 in less than a month. Divorced. 3 kids have moved out. Been replaced with two cats and a dog. Well, not replaced, exactly. But they should be jealous. The puppy’s four months old and I’m bonkers dotty about her.

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**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/198 "2002-12-10T05:29:03Z")

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20, last time I checked.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/199 "2002-12-10T10:56:30Z")

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18, female, at uni. 🙂 (19 in Feb.)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aglet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@Aglet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglet)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-doper-age/140625/200 "2002-12-10T21:25:04Z")

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43

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