# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/21 "2017-10-24T20:48:13Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Not quite. It’s actually April 1999. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > That sounds right to me. Well, ya know, it’s not just April of '99. It’s having that user number under 200. That’s what really counts. 🆒:D;) (and of course how often is it that THREE smilies apply to the situation?) ---
**Author:** ![vtxrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d26b3c/32.png) [@vtxrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtxrider)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/22 "2017-10-24T21:00:10Z")
Then there are those that started back on AOL. Then when these newfangled interwebs came along, moved over in May 1999. But took a number of years hiatus due to proxy servers at work. And upon coming back, either decided that they could not remember the password and no longer held the email from the original user ID, or just wanted to start anew either way therefore have a much newer join date. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/23 "2017-10-24T21:02:43Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Well, ya know, it’s not just April of '99. It’s having that user number under 200. That’s what really counts. 🆒:D;) > > (and of course how often is it that THREE smilies apply to the situation?) As said above, you spelled “March” wrong. And anyone with a user number with three or more digits is the obvious cutoff of “newbie.” ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/24 "2017-10-24T21:16:38Z")
> [@Crazy\_Canuck](#): > > It’s not about the years, it’s about the mileage. That’s what I thought when I was a newb- Oh, crap. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/25 "2017-10-24T21:36:49Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > As said above, you spelled “March” wrong. > > And anyone with a user number with three or more digits is the obvious cutoff of “newbie.” The fix was in! I signed up as fast as I could, but I’m pretty sure they anounced the new board on AOL prior to informing those of us on the alt.fan.cecil-adams USENET board. ---
**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, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/26 "2017-10-24T23:15:36Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Well, ya know, it’s not just April of '99. It’s having that user number under 200. That’s what really counts. 🆒:D;) I looked into it and his story checks out. ---
**Author:** ![winneee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a88e4f/32.png) [@winneee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/winneee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/27 "2017-10-25T00:36:00Z")
I think I joined in 2000 but I can’t see my date on Tapatalk. I still check the Dope almost every day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/28 "2017-10-25T00:36:43Z")
The only time I think of join dates is about once every 3 or 4 years when I kick myself for missing out on a '99 start date by a few, measly weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/29 "2017-10-25T14:30:15Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I looked into it and his story checks out. You’re officially on my limbo team; because you obviously know how to get under a wire, by the least amount possible. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/30 "2017-10-25T15:05:12Z")
The only time I pay attention to the join date is if someone I’m not familiar with posts a link. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/31 "2017-10-25T19:34:36Z")
Join Date 02-04-2001 Total Posts 15,704 and I still feel like a newb. (Did I let 15k go by without noticing???) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628/32 "2017-10-25T20:48:13Z")
I’d like to argue that the epochs change at round user numbers, but then we’d argue endlessly if people like me are the end of the old epoch or the beginning of the new one. TroutMan #80000 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/join-dates-where-if-at-all-do-you-perceive-wise-old-age-to-begin/799628.md?page=1)