Average Age of an AARoads Forum user.

[Scott5114]

Well, there you go, then (assuming Mr. Defender's birthday was accurately entered). I can't imagine it's terribly likely that there's anyone older than 101 on the forum.

(In case anyone is wondering why nobody's gotten onto him for his Republican-themed avatar–he stopped posting about 2 years before that was against the rules. I noticed it not too long after the rule change, but figured it was kind of pointless to send a message about it to someone who had been inactive for 2 years.)

[Rothman]

And I have noticed that the younger users tend to post a lot more than the older users.

Quantity versus quality.

[GaryV]

And I have noticed that the younger users tend to post a lot more than the older users.

Quantity versus quality.

And time to burn, unlike many of the older users.

[Takumi]

There are 16 members of the AARoads forum with post counts over 10,000 who give ages on their respective profiles that are not obviously unreasonable.

Pointing out the obvious here, that excludes NE2. 

Who actually is around that average age.

[webny99]

Fred Defender is listed as 107 now and made his last post in 2016. That would put him as 101 when he (likely) died.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=12936

There's no way I believe that age even for a second. His first post was in 2014; that would mean he started posting at 99 years old.

Honestly, NE2 being 14 years old (even though I know he's not) is more believable than this.

[webny99]

Fred Defender is listed as 107 now and made his last post in 2016. That would put him as 101 when he (likely) died.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=12936

There's no way I believe that age even for a second. His first post was in 2014; that would mean he started posting at 99 years old.

Honestly, NE2 being 14 years old (even though I know he's not) is more believable than this.

And indeed, here's some evidence as to his approximate age, showing that his posted age is off by at least 30 years.

[hbelkins]

If a birthday only counts if you had a party, then I'm exactly 0 years old.

You've never had a birthday party?

If a birthday only counts if you had a party, then I'm exactly 0 years old.

Even when you were one year old?

Nope. Didn't have birthday parties when I was a kid with other kids invited. Of course I had cake and a special meal at home, but that was the extent of it. Of course, living in small quarters with a birthday in December wasn't conducive to having a bunch of people over for what would have needed to be an outdoor event. And an after-school event wouldn't have been feasible given how early it gets dark. 

[JayhawkCO]

Well, so far the average age of posters in this thread (if they have it listed or put it out explicitly) is 37. I think some of the folks that don't have it listed are older than that, and I think a younger audience would probably be more likely to post in this thread in the first place (and have it listed in their profile). So, I'm sticking with my guess of 44.

[hotdogPi]

The reason why I chose 27 initially, which is probably too low, is for these reasons:

1. I know the average human age is 28 as of a few years ago. I forgot that this number is worldwide and life expectancy is higher in the US in addition to this average including people under 15, of which we have had almost none.
2. Very few people, if any, are over 70 on this forum.
3. The younger users are more prolific, as mentioned in a previous post, which makes them more noticeable.
4. Previous post: "I think some of the folks that don't have it listed are older than that", and I'm treating them as unknowns.

[SkyPesos]

I'm one of the youngest users on here, but not the youngest. I know of at least one younger one. I used to reference being the second younger forum member in my signature, but I believe the youngest quit. I wonder who the oldest user is. And I have noticed that the younger users tend to post a lot more than the older users.

Digging through some old posts, it seemed like Noel was the youngest on this forum for a while. I wasn't on the forum then, so not completely sure.

Now, youngest could probably be the op of this thread, as they said that they're 13.

[hotdogPi]

Digging through some old posts, it seemed like Noel was the youngest on this forum for a while. I wasn't on the forum then, so not completely sure.

Yes, he was 10 when he joined.

I joined the forum in 2013 when I was 14.

In the early days of the forum (it was gone when I joined), there was a "must be 13" rule on the forum, and someone was even banned until their 13th birthday for it.

[kalvado]

The reason why I chose 27 initially, which is probably too low, is for these reasons:

1. I know the average human age is 28 as of a few years ago. I forgot that this number is worldwide and life expectancy is higher in the US in addition to this average including people under 15, of which we have had almost none.
2. Very few people, if any, are over 70 on this forum.
3. The younger users are more prolific, as mentioned in a previous post, which makes them more noticeable.
4. Previous post: "I think some of the folks that don't have it listed are older than that", and I'm treating them as unknowns.

US is 38 or so. And while few users are 70+ over here, equally very few users are in <15 (what is the minimum legal age to join? I believe 13, even if it is not really enforced)

[hotdogPi]

(what is the minimum legal age to join? I believe 13, even if it is not really enforced)

There's no minimum. COPPA says no personal information without parents' consent under 13. Many websites don't want to have to deal with whether things are violations or not and blanket ban everyone under 13, but here, someone under 13 (such as noelbotevera when he joined) is allowed as long as they don't give out personal information.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Fred Defender is listed as 107 now and made his last post in 2016. That would put him as 101 when he (likely) died.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=12936

I don't think that was his real age. This post in conjunction with the visible age of the poster he references above it suggests he is around 60 this year.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=204.msg2024951#msg2024951

[thspfc]

In some East Asian cultures, you start off as 1 year old at birth instead of 0, so your "real age" is 1 higher than what it really is. I'm not sure if Spanish culture have something similar.

Nope, age reckoning in Spain is like in the USA. I claim to be one year younger than I actually am because my birthday, in April, was in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, and as result I was forced to cancel it that year and thus I don't count it.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a post on this forum.

[webny99]

In some East Asian cultures, you start off as 1 year old at birth instead of 0, so your "real age" is 1 higher than what it really is. I'm not sure if Spanish culture have something similar.

Nope, age reckoning in Spain is like in the USA. I claim to be one year younger than I actually am because my birthday, in April, was in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, and as result I was forced to cancel it that year and thus I don't count it.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a post on this forum.

OK, you can put that one in your signature instead of mine then. 

[thspfc]

In some East Asian cultures, you start off as 1 year old at birth instead of 0, so your "real age" is 1 higher than what it really is. I'm not sure if Spanish culture have something similar.

Nope, age reckoning in Spain is like in the USA. I claim to be one year younger than I actually am because my birthday, in April, was in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, and as result I was forced to cancel it that year and thus I don't count it.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a post on this forum.

OK, you can put that one in your signature instead of mine then. 

Maybe I will.

[Big John]

SidS1045 is 71.

[Takumi]

Sparker is 72-73 IIRC, but hasn't been active in about a year.

[JoePCool14]

I'm 21, and I joined when I was 12. Looking back, I still find that crazy. And I know I lurked a bit before then. It's possible I started looking at AARoads when I was 11.

If we go by users who are at least semi-active, I bet the age is late-20s or early-30s. A standard answer, I know, but it makes the most sense.

[Alex]

With some SQL queries on the database and some Excel help from flaroads:

• of the 4,390 member accounts, 3,701 have no birthday added
• throwing out the outliers on birth years, such as the year 9999, there are 657 member profiles with legitimate birth years
• the oldest member is 74; the youngest is 15
• members born in 1987 make up 4.1% of the forum, which is the highest percentage of any birth year
• the average age of a forum user is 38.2

[Rothman]

With some SQL queries on the database and some Excel help from flaroads:

• of the 4,390 member accounts, 3,701 have no birthday added
• throwing out the outliers on birth years, such as the year 9999, there are 657 member profiles with legitimate birth years
• the oldest member is 74; the youngest is 15
• members born in 1987 make up 4.1% of the forum, which is the highest percentage of any birth year
• the average age of a forum user is 38.2

How boring and expected.

[hotdogPi]

The age is going to skew high if you include inactive members.

[dlsterner]

With some SQL queries on the database and some Excel help from flaroads:

• of the 4,390 member accounts, 3,701 have no birthday added
• throwing out the outliers on birth years, such as the year 9999, there are 657 member profiles with legitimate birth years
• the oldest member is 74; the youngest is 15
• members born in 1987 make up 4.1% of the forum, which is the highest percentage of any birth year
• the average age of a forum user is 38.2

Was wondering if the median age (as opposed to the mean age, 38.2) was computed.  As we know from Statistics 101, the mean and median of a data set aren't necessarily the same.

The mean age is about where I expected it would be (just a SWAG on my part).

[J N Winkler]

The age is going to skew high if you include inactive members.

How?  For members with over 10,000 posts each who disclose a plausible age, the average is 40.  Alex's calculations cover a much wider subset, including inactive members, and the average is lower--38.2.

Hypothesis:  Average age of all forum members is in the upper 20s/lower 30s.  Conclusion:  Not testable.

Hypothesis:  Average age of forum members with plausible disclosed ages (hereinafter PDAs) is in the upper 20s/lower 30s.  Conclusion:  Not true.

Hypothesis:  Younger members with PDAs are more prolific, so the average age of members in the 10,000+ post count bracket with PDAs is lower.  Conclusion:  Not true.

Hypothesis:  Younger members with PDAs are more prolific, so they are better represented among members in the 10,000+ post count bracket with PDAs than in the wider population of members with PDAs.  Conclusion:  Not tested.