# Does this board trend older? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155 "2014-04-02T10:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/21 "2014-04-02T20:31:06Z")
> [@bup](#): > > For that matter, do the kids “do” message boards anymore? > > I thought message boards were the province of internet dinosaurs. I believe nowadays it’s all about the MySpace and the Bebo. The sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore them. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/22 "2014-04-02T20:51:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > For a mayfly I am very old. > For a redwood tree I am very young. > For a human being I am just right. I’d make a seriously high-end Scotch. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/23 "2014-04-02T21:41:14Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m trending older every year. so far. “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that, now.” Not me - I refuse to get old. Never. Not me. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/24 "2014-04-02T21:45:41Z")
There seems to be a nice mix of ages here. Mostly people over thirty. That’s still a wide range of ages. I’m not sure where the under 30 crowd hang out these days. Cracked seems to trend younger with the twenty and thirty year olds. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/25 "2014-04-02T22:45:54Z")
I’m old. I feel old. Not as old as some of you…( 50? seriously? ha-ha-ha! …) Ahem. Ahh, what the hell, I’m 45. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/26 "2014-04-03T00:21:12Z")
> [@bup](#): > > For that matter, do the kids “do” message boards anymore? > > I thought message boards were the province of internet dinosaurs. Yes. I think the majority of reddit users are around college age, and many are younger. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/27 "2014-04-03T00:36:01Z")
“College age”? I’m 50, and I’m in college. 🙂 (Again.) (For the third time, actually.) ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/28 "2014-04-03T01:07:50Z")
I’m newly 45 and discovered the Dope via the first book. I found it back when I was in college. Cecil’s response to the [Can Man Live By Bread Alone](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/191/can-man-live-by-bread-alone) question is the one that hooked me. I found the website back in 1999 or so. I lurked, joined, left, re-lurked, rejoined and since I couldn’t remember my original password, changed my username. I was very happy that when I rejoined I didn’t have to pay to post. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/29 "2014-04-03T01:15:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Probably. A lot of us came here because of the books and the newspaper column. The books were big and passed around when I was in high school. And newspapers aren’t exactly popular nowadays. If I was young right now I’m not sure how I would have ever heard of the straight dope. I’m 46. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I suspect the number of people attracted here by the books is a tiny fraction of those who arrived via Google, [bored.com](http://bored.com), AOL and the like. [Made a poll thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719950). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/30 "2014-04-03T07:20:48Z")
Younger people don’t worry about knowing anything… On Tv just then a younger lady was asked the name of the tallest hill in the United Kingdom… Ben WHAT ? She said “Ben Loch”. What a monster , I said to myself. Apparently she didn’t know that much about Loch Ness Monsters… Another lady was asked what gas was in the Hindenburg… “It can’t be hydrogen, that would turn to water !”… Oh the humanity. at least her answer did make some sense… Helium… well it is safe than hydrogen… there is some sense in that. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/31 "2014-04-03T12:01:37Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Younger people don’t worry about knowing anything… Young people don’t have the monopoly on dumb. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/32 "2014-04-03T12:46:35Z")
Does it bother anyone that the board isn’t attracting enough new members to maintain its age distribution? Or do they prefer growing old together? I wonder about pop radio stations, actually - as their listeners age, do they play different songs to keep them, or do they let their listeners leave and the stations look for new listeners? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/33 "2014-04-03T13:02:07Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Does it bother anyone that the board isn’t attracting enough new members to maintain its age distribution? Or do they prefer growing old together? I wonder about pop radio stations, actually - as their listeners age, do they play different songs to keep them, or do they let their listeners leave and the stations look for new listeners? It doesn’t bother me. With its insular culture of running in-jokes and jargon, and its stubborn refusal to update even to the technological standards of a 2005 message board (this all sounds snarky, but it’s affectionate; I have plenty of other places I can go if I feel the need for embedded video and images), the SDMB is clearly not throwing out a wide net for young new members. Pop stations keep up with the current trends, and allow each crop of listeners to “graduate” to AC or classic rock stations. It’s the classic rock stations that keep changing their playlists to include later and later stuff. The 80s rock I grew up on, and even stuff like Nirvana and STP, is now played right alongside Led Zep and the Rolling Stones. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/34 "2014-04-03T13:29:10Z")
Nirvana and Led Zep… aren’t from the same era? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/35 "2014-04-03T13:35:35Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Nirvana and Led Zep… aren’t from the same era? No. Off by 15 years anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/36 "2014-04-03T13:44:48Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Nirvana and Led Zep… aren’t from the same era? How could they be? Jon Bonham died (and LZ accordingly broke up) seven years before Nirvana formed, much less released a record. That’s an eternity in music. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/37 "2014-04-03T13:48:16Z")
:o I always thought Nirvana, Led Zep, U2, AC/DC, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, etc. were from the same age. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/38 "2014-04-03T13:52:50Z")
I think that to a certain extent, this board has ‘aged in place’ in a similar way to my real-life neighborhood. My neighborhood was built in the early 1990s, and as it goes with a lot of new neighborhoods, a lot of young families moved in early on. When we got there in 1998, Halloween was wall-to-wall kids trick-or-treating, and that was the case for the next several years, but since then it’s tapered off, and now Halloween in our neighborhood is kinda quiet. While there’s been some turnover, most of the same families are there, but they’re older now. And new families moving into the neighborhood tend to be older as well, I guess because they see a neighborhood where they’ll fit in well. Same thing here, with the main difference being that nobody has to move out for another poster to move in. But we’ve got a lot of posters still around from the early days of the board, and while by and large we weren’t under-25’s then, those of us who signed up in 1999 are now 15 years older than we were when we got sucked into this place. Posters come and go, but there are still a lot of us who’ve been around for quite some time, and also new posters are more likely to feel comfortable here if they feel comfortable with a somewhat older group, whether they themselves are older or not (but it would cause new posters to skew older). And then you get the fact that this board is still basically running on 2002 technology, which probably turns off a lot of younger posters right up front. Not a problem for us older types, though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/39 "2014-04-03T13:55:10Z")
Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Aerosmith are all contemporaries; they all started out playing blues in the early sixties. The Stones started in the fifties. U2 came a full generation later (formed in 1976), and Nirvana a full generation after that. I mean, in 500 years historians will probably say they were all from the same era, but given the sub-80-year span of popular music to date it would be weird to say that now. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155/40 "2014-04-03T14:05:00Z")
Here’s the timeline from the Wikipedia entries. The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. Aerosmith … was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1970. AC/DC are an Australian hard rock band, formed in November 1973. U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976… Nirvana was … in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-board-trend-older/685155.md?page=3)