# Join dates: where (if at all) do you perceive 'wise old age' to begin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628 "2017-10-23T13:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/1 "2017-10-23T13:26:11Z")
This is something I’ve wondered about from time to time and have certainly put **way** too much thought into. When you look at a Doper’s join date, which dates classify them as ‘newbie’ or ‘venerable’ or ‘been around for a while’ or wherever else your brain pegs them? The '99ers are the obviously at the top of the list, not only because they’re the first year but because the number itself stands out so distinctly from everyone else. I suspect that if the earliest join dates were 1998, they would be functionally identical to the '99ers in my mind. The 2000s are also very distinct. Nice round number. From there, I rate 2001-2003 as roughly equivalent, probably because 2003 is where I am. For absolutely no reason that I can conceive of, 2007 is the cutoff line for ‘venerable’ posters (even before this year, so it’s not a decade thing). After that, ‘new’ users are probably 2012 onwards. Again, no good reason. That’s just where the numbers play out when I put a little thought into it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/2 "2017-10-23T14:53:28Z")
I’m not sure I put that much in dates. If you pushed it I would say 2004 or another choice some years before I joined. More than date, should I read a post that interests me from a poster I don’t recognize, I look at the post count. A lot of people with way low counts come out with stuff that really gets my brain working and rates them as “venerable” in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/3 "2017-10-23T15:21:52Z")
Damn it! I missed the 2007 cutoff by 24 days. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/4 "2017-10-23T15:35:04Z")
I don’t look at join dates unless I’m posting to a join date thread, so when I do, I’m often surprised to find that “venerable” posters joined years after I did. So I guess it isn’t about the years. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/5 "2017-10-23T16:15:12Z")
The strict cutoff is May of 2000. Everyone else is just a babe. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/6 "2017-10-23T16:24:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > For absolutely no reason that I can conceive of, 2007 is the cutoff line for ‘venerable’ posters (even before this year, so it’s not a decade thing). After that, ‘new’ users are probably 2012 onwards. Again, no good reason. That’s just where the numbers play out when I put a little thought into it. I think that’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/7 "2017-10-23T17:21:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The strict cutoff is May of 2000. Everyone else is just a babe. Close, but you got the year wrong. May of 1999 is the correct date. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/8 "2017-10-23T21:48:11Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Close, but you got the year wrong. May of 1999 is the correct date. Not quite. It’s actually April 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/9 "2017-10-23T21:52:57Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Not quite. It’s actually April 1999. That sounds right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/10 "2017-10-23T23:12:13Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Not quite. It’s actually April 1999. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > That sounds right to me. Believe what you want, you old geezers. We’ll make sure there’s some soft food for you at the next dopefest, and we won’t play that newfangled rock-and-roll music either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/11 "2017-10-24T01:11:18Z")
I’ll take '07 as an old timers days everyonce in a while i realize I’ve spent almost a third of my life hanging out on this board and feel a bit weird. That being said I mainly break people down to less then a month, less then a year and then the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/12 "2017-10-24T03:57:15Z")
My Join Date just proves that that I haven’t matured a single bit in the last sixteen fucking years. In fact, I think I’ve gotten worse… My wife and kid will stand testament to that as well. _Ah, Death’s warm embrace, I welcome thee…_ ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/13 "2017-10-24T05:06:01Z")
It just makes me think of the bit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’'s Nest where it turns out many of the inmates are there voluntarily. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/14 "2017-10-24T16:59:07Z")
I’ve been here for ten years!? I guess that makes me ‘venerable’, then. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/15 "2017-10-24T17:15:19Z")
I am very wise and you should listen to everything I say. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![depocali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@depocali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/depocali)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/16 "2017-10-24T17:54:01Z")
Well, I lurk a lot and don’t post much, but I just checked, I joined May 1999, so I’ve lived in 6 cities since I joined! Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/17 "2017-10-24T18:07:34Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Close, but you got the year wrong. May of 1999 is the correct date. > [@kunilou](#): > > Not quite. It’s actually April 1999. Surprising how people can’t spell “March” correctly. _“That’s why you’re still kids! Because you’re stupid!”_ – Roger Myers Jr 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/18 "2017-10-24T18:15:36Z")
It’s not about the years, it’s about the mileage. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/19 "2017-10-24T18:16:59Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Surprising how people can’t spell “March” correctly.😛 You mean back when the SDMB was still a formless void, before there was light? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/20 "2017-10-24T20:14:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You mean back when the SDMB was still a formless void, before there was light? God, it was so quiet and peaceful then. A couple guys could really have themselves a conversation about whether or not glass is a liquid. Then the calendar page flipped and a bunch of kids showed up and it’s been all Frisbees, rock & roll and color televisions ever since :mad: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628.md?page=2)