MR member age?

[jxyama]

is there a way to somehow include the age of the members along with each post? i realize that this is private info. and some of us (me included) don't want to disclose such info... maybe just a range of ages? (btw, i would be in the 25-30 range.)

i ask this because of a post from someone who was a bit "late" to the party and posted about WWDC keynote only after reading an "official" email from Apple today. i replied (as did many others), kind of poking fun of him/her because it was such "old" news... but it turns out he/she is just 13 yrs. old.

i'm not saying being young is an excuse for not doing some research before posting, but at the same time, i'm feeling a little bad such a young kid was being collectively made fun of here...

[Billicus]

I agree. I'm only 17 but I consider myself pretty much on top of things. I wouldn't want to have been flamed by people on the boards when I was only 13, nor would I want the stigma of having flamed somebody whos just a kid, but obviously interested in Macs or they wouldn't have posted anything at all.

[MrMacMan]

I'm 15.


I don't care that people know, what are they going to do.

[job]

i'm 17.

i've noticed that there are users on these boards who seem much older than they actually are, and others who seem much younger.

i guess it's all how you sound in your posts.

[tpjunkie]

I'm 19.

[rueyeet]

My general opinion of the age of forum posters is that it's irrelevant. As long as you have something useful, insightful, or amusing to say, and can communicate it in a clear and intelligent manner, age doesn't matter.

And no, being young isn't any excuse for lack of research. Of course, being better-informed is no excuse for being discourteous to other posters, either.

The thing about forums is: Have something to say that adds something, always be polite, and don't take things personally; and no matter how old you are, you'll do fine practically anywhere.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by rueyeet
My general opinion of the age of forum posters is that it's irrelevant. As long as you have something useful, insightful, or amusing to say, and can communicate it in a clear and intelligent manner, age doesn't matter.

And no, being young isn't any excuse for lack of research. Of course, being better-informed is no excuse for being discourteous to other posters, either.

The thing about forums is: Have something to say that adds something, always be polite, and don't take things personally; and no matter how old you are, you'll do fine practically anywhere.

true. i agree completely. i just felt "bad" that i might have flamed some kid, that's all..

BTW: this post is NOT about asking MR members their age. :D i was asking about possibility of adding such an information to the posts.

[arn]

I think it's best to treat people as they act.

I think the age would just confuse the issue. and cause people to be treated differently based on age.

arn

[scem0]

Originally posted by arn
I think it's best to treat people as they act.

I think the age would just confuse the issue. and cause people to be treated differently based on age.

arn

I agree, but you still shouldn't get mad at an 11 year old if they act a little immature (im only sorta alluding to the 13 year old jxyama was talking about).

But I agree, knowing ages would just complicate things.

Also, an immature 11 year old would probably immature enough to say 40 before he posted immaturely,

scem0

[iJon]

im trying to figure out why the hell an 11 year old person would be on the board. woudlnt the parents consider that talking to strangers on the internet.

iJon

[scem0]

i was posting on forums when i was 11. I posted on blizzforums.com.

My parents dont care as long as I'm not looking at porn or something illegal like that.

scem0

[wdlove]

I also notice alot of young posters in this forum. The vast majority have very insightful and intelligent comments. Age really doesn't matter!

[Ugg]

I agree with wdlove, there are a lot of very intelligent young 'uns here and by not knowing ages, I tend not to prejudge. Conversely, I'm more willing to cut a 13 year old some slack than I am a 21 year old.

It's too bad that so many of those here are so willing to slam someone without trying to get a feel for who they are. Noobs and 13 year olds get hit pretty hard sometimes and it would be nice if the know it alls chilled a little before they attack.

There are no stupid questions or posts, just stupid answers.

[job]

Originally posted by Ugg
There are no stupid questions or posts, just stupid answers.

but don't you answer on this forum with posts? thus following from the logic that most of these posts are 'answers' to thread topics, and that some of these 'answers' may be 'stupid,' there are 'stupid' posts. :D :p

an example of a stupid post is this one right here. ;)

[Ugg]

Originally posted by job
but don't you answer on this forum with posts? thus following from the logic that most of these posts are 'answers' to thread topics, and that some of these 'answers' may be 'stupid,' there are 'stupid' posts. :D :p

an example of a stupid post is this one right here. ;)

I would say that it is an attempt to argue the validity of posts, with a humorous twist that is! Posts may seem stupid but they usually stem from a lack of knowledge and someone who is overexcited or just doesn't know where to look to find the info. My post was an attempt to encourage tolerance and patience.:)

[MacFan25]

If I didn't know, then I would have thought that everyone on this forum is older than you think. There are many young'ens on the forums, but for the most part they post intelligent posts.

[shadowfax]

i think age definitely matters, that it's an important factor to the quality of the poster's comments, but it can be easily overcome with a little dose of "easygoing charisma" and intelligence. i think displaying age by every post would just end up revealing the immaturity of everyone else, rather than helping the younger people. no one wants to be babied. it's much better to get whatever status you have among the people of the community on the merits of your own words.

but i still think we should all be pinching scem0's cheeks and squeal with delight whenever he makes an insightful comment :eek:

[tazo]

I am 15, 16 in october, and I think that this board is nowhere near as bad as some other BBs I have been on. On some of them if you state your age as under 18 you are just regarded as stupid and asanine comments are continuously made. Luckyly, such a stigma is not as apparent here.

[Laslo Panaflex]

Even if it were a requirement to show the age, how would it be considered truth, people could just lie about thier age. Of course, you could always be rquired to send in a copy of a valid ID in order to register for this forum.:)

P.S. I am 69 years old . . . ehh ehe I just wrote 69.

[rueyeet]

Originally posted by scem0
I agree, but you still shouldn't get mad at an 11 year old if they act a little immature.

I don't advocate actually getting mad at anything anyone says online, but I also don't advocate excusing immaturity on the basis of youth. If you let 'em get away with poor behavior just because of age, how will they learn better?

Was that kid flamed for posting old news--or because they got petulant about being called on it, and tried to use their age as an excuse? "Don't blame me for not keeping up with major Apple news, I'm only 13." That's not to be encouraged at ANY age, if that's what happened.

I agree with arn: Treat people as they act.

I do have to say that one reason I started posting here was that the people seemed pretty neat, whatever their ages. :)

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by Laslo Panaflex
Even if it were a requirement to show the age, how would it be considered truth, people could just lie about thier age. Of course, you could always be rquired to send in a copy of a valid ID in order to register for this forum.:)

P.S. I am 69 years old . . . ehh ehe I just wrote 69.

Why does the 'ehh ehh' at the end make me think you aren't 69... :rolleyes:

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Laslo Panaflex
Even if it were a requirement to show the age, how would it be considered truth, people could just lie about thier age. Of course, you could always be rquired to send in a copy of a valid ID in order to register for this forum.:)

P.S. I am 69 years old . . . ehh ehe I just wrote 69.

Wonder if it has anything to do with the symbolism of 69?

[akushlan]

15 and darn proud of it!!!
mac user since 1492 (started with the Pinto):D

[hvfsl]

I am 20, but when I play games like half life on the net I am always suprised by the number of people in their 30s and 40s, and one or two in their 60s. One of the points of the net is that we can discuss or do things online without people judging on appearance.

So as said earily, the answer is not to say your age, but to not flame others.

Maybe we should also put our gender and sexal preferance as well ;)

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by hvfsl
Maybe we should also put our gender and sexal preferance as well ;) gender would be helpful. it's strange how many people have mistaken me for a girl. i always figured i was arrogant enough for my 'tar not to fool them, but apparently not for some. just as well, but it would be nice to have that. as for sexual preference, you can usually tell after talking to people for not too long :rolleyes: ;)

[wdlove]

I'm guility of embarassing Shadowfax, it always confused me seeing his Avatar! Lucky for me, I was forgiven! ;)

[Nermal]

Remember that birthdays are visible in the user profiles (if the user puts it in), so you can always work out the age from that if you want to.

[Groovsonic]

I am 21. Yummy.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Billicus
I agree. I'm only 17 but I consider myself pretty much on top of things. I wouldn't want to have been flamed by people on the boards when I was only 13, nor would I want the stigma of having flamed somebody whos just a kid, but obviously interested in Macs or they wouldn't have posted anything at all.

that is a good point...i think sometimes the annonimity of just a name puts everyone on equal terms and since the most common poster here is in his 20s, that becomes the minimum expectation of a poster's experience and tolerance

but a 13 year old could take things the wrong way and get turned off to the mac community and that would be bad...since we are just a few percent of the current computer users out and and thus need to stick together

without a mac community, there would be no apple, inc and i am sure their rather low market share makes things a bit touchy for apple at times

i really remember the old days of apple II when most computer users had apples

[irmongoose]

I'm 14 but I certainly don't want to be treated differently just because of my age... I am often told 'Why do you know so much about this.. you're only 14!'... it's one of the beauties of the internet... I can withhold my age when I want to, and I can use the fact that I'm younger that many others to my advantage at other times! :D ;)



irmongoose

[robbieduncan]

For the record I'll be 25 in a month or so (scarry - I'm getting old). I think a lot of the younger posters above demonstrate that age is not an important factor around here - they are amongst the most helpfull posters on the board and do not (well not often) post rubbish.

The only problem I can see with the younger members is that they will have more trouble contributing (if they want to) as they will not be able to get credit cards! I can't imagine asking my parents to buy a mug for me to support a web site when I was a kid.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by robbieduncan
I can't imagine asking my parents to buy a mug for me to support a web site when I was a kid. you have a point there. i'm 18, and felt weird asking my dad to put in his credit card info to get one. he was like, "what's this?" and i replied, "just a souvenir from that site i always post to. mostly i just want to help the site out, like you donating to that classical radio station you always listen to... yeah..." he gave me such a weird, almost resentful look. but it's all in the past now, and i'm here postin' and drinking apple juice and coke in my mug.

[scem0]

I don't mind asking at all :D.

I'm getting every penny out of my parents until I move out. :p

Still haven't gotten around to getting a mug though.... :o

scem0

[caveman_uk]

Looks like I'm the oldie in here - I'm 33. As for gender - male. Preference - I like women ;) Marital Status - She's out shopping...

[maradong]

19 for me.

[WinterMute]

Originally posted by caveman_uk
Looks like I'm the oldie in here - I'm 33. As for gender - male. Preference - I like women ;) Marital Status - She's out shopping...

Oldie? I'm 39, 40 in Feb (you'll hear the party:eek: ), as for the rest: ditto.

[Wardofsky]

I'll have to agree with everyone (or m ost) on this topic, people should be judged by the quality of the post rather than the age.

If you want to know my age just go over to my profile, why don't I just tell you?

Because it's funny when people have to work it out :D.

There are a few, actually, there are a large amount of young people (I myself included) that post around here.

Age should be only taken into context if that is what the conversation is about.

The G6's are coming!
How old are you?
35.
I believe you.
The G5's are coming!
How old are you?
15.
Get lost kid.

[eyelikeart]

hmm...is it just me...or is the thread failing to serve it's purpose?

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by scem0
Still haven't gotten around to getting a mug though.... :o


praise god, allah, yahweh, etc.

[Wardofsky]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
hmm...is it just me...or is the thread failing to serve it's purpose?

Don't worry, it's not you, but a topic like this is bound to lead off happily :)

But to answer the topics question, no I don't believe it to be appropriate to put the members age range underneath the username.

Well, I wouldn't at least.

Like I said before, people should be judged and replied to by the quality of the post and not be influenced by the age of that person.

[WinterMute]

Oh, so thats what the threads about, slipped my mind... Sure, lets get more user info on the posts, it'll save loads of time trying to figure out who's an arse or not:D

I vote for:

Age
Sex
Weight
No of Girl/boyfriends
Income
Political beliefs
Job
Favourite sports team
Favourite Music
Religeon
Regrets
Favourite drink.

That should cut down the number of really useful threads that get posted here;) ;)

In fact, if we do this properly, some members may never have to post again.

[Wardofsky]

I disagree entirely with WinterMute's post based entirely on his

Age
Sex
Weight
No of Girl/boyfriends
Income
Political beliefs
Job
Favourite sports team
Favourite Music
Religeon
Regrets
Favourite drink.

Vote "No" for propisition 128.
128 based soley on a random users post count.

[wdlove]

Originally posted by WinterMute
Oldie? I'm 39, 40 in Feb (you'll hear the party:eek: ), as for the rest: ditto.

You are still a youngster, enjoy the life that you have. I happen to be 55! The Apple community has very intelligent members! I'm in awe of their intelligence, and appreciate their willingness to share that knowledge.

[voicegy]

Well, you can always submit modifications to your profile so they'll show up under your name in every post...add it to your location, for instance. So it should be up to each user how much info they want to give up on themselves, not the owner.

Someone mentioned earlier in this post that they were amazed at the number of people in their 30's and 40's on posts, not only here, but in general on the 'net. Well, they invented it, so why wouldn't they be around?;)

For me, I was amazed at seeing all the teens and early 20's around here. One tends to get tunnel vision for their own age group, and automatically assumes age brackets around posters, give or take 5 years...so when someone says they're 15 after a particularly well thought out post, well, it gives me hope for the future.

There's also that built in prejudice when one sees the age of a poster as a default item. One may attribute all sorts of things to a poster that may not be "fair" if age was a part of the profile and was seen right off the bat, young or old. I've visited other forums where there are endless posts by "kids" with one or two word messages such as "that sucks" "hey" "wut's up" etc. The overall maturity level of MacRumors, the members, and the work of arn and the mods keep that crap down to a tolerable minimum, and that's why I contribute, both in posts and in cold hard cash.

Us kids in our 40's were BBS'in before a lot of other posters here were even born...chopping out little messages on our 1200 baud modems, dialing into the hundreds of Bulletin Board Services that were set up in nerds' kitchens or garages, years before AOL littered the country with install discs. Those were the days of the Wild Wild West, and its amazing how far its come, and, in a way, how much of the romance has been lost now that it is a common everyday occurrence for Grandma to zap pics of her latest vacation in Florida to relatives across the planet at light speed via the most sophisticated device ever created. I sometimes lament how common it is, now that it is out of the hands of the Priesthood. *sigh* It's just envy speaking on my part, but you old timers, I think, know what I mean.

Brings to mind the movie Sunset Blvd., where our star laments the beginning of "talkies" in the movies, and defies the entire changeover when her now hideous visage claims "Who needs sound? Back then, we had FACES!"

Brings also to mind a recent experience of mine at Tower Records, while I was desperately seeking a Trance recording I heard on a demo iPod at the Apple store. I finally gave up on finding it myself, and asked the 20 year old behind the counter to look it up for me. Within minutes, I had my CD. As he spied my Apple shirt while ringing up the sale (how old fashioned...paying for music) he asked if I worked for Apple. (I get that a lot) I said, no, I just make sure that the 7th largest school district in the country continues their 70% install base on the Apple platform. He then asked if I've used Apple computers for a while. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to say what I thought I'd never get the chance to:

"I've been using Apple computers since before you were born."

And ya know what? Instead of being looked upon as the out-of-touch fossil that I could have been, he gave me a smile of recognition and respect, and said "Cool." At once I realized the power of this company...from 13 to 69, all ages are brought together and the gap closes under the Apple umbrella...both here, at MacRumors, and in general.

Thanks, "kids", for the respect and the conversation. Thanks, "elders", for never wanting to stop learning. I...I think I'm gonna cry....:p

[WinterMute]

Originally posted by Wardofsky
I disagree entirely with WinterMute's post based entirely on his

Age
Sex
Weight
No of Girl/boyfriends
Income
Political beliefs
Job
Favourite sports team
Favourite Music
Religeon
Regrets
Favourite drink.

Vote "No" for propisition 128.
128 based soley on a random users post count.

You just don't like the way I'm dressed do you?

[tazo]

Originally posted by robbieduncan
For the record I'll be 25 in a month or so (scarry - I'm getting old). I think a lot of the younger posters above demonstrate that age is not an important factor around here - they are amongst the most helpfull posters on the board and do not (well not often) post rubbish.

The only problem I can see with the younger members is that they will have more trouble contributing (if they want to) as they will not be able to get credit cards! I can't imagine asking my parents to buy a mug for me to support a web site when I was a kid.

You can get a debit card at 16. 15 if you know what you're doing (as in my case)

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by tazo
You can get a debit card at 16. 15 if you know what you're doing (as in my case)

True, but if you're outside the US it won't do you any good. Switch only seems to work in the UK for example.

[tazo]

Originally posted by robbieduncan
True, but if you're outside the US it won't do you any good. Switch only seems to work in the UK for example.

Very true. Do you mean I cannot order from UK websites with a US debit card?
I wanted to order from this one website in the UK that specializes in dual monitor wallpaper <for my pc>. Will I not be able to order from them?

[Wardofsky]

Originally posted by WinterMute
You just don't like the way I'm dressed do you?

Well, if it's not on that list, I don't have a problem with it.

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by tazo
Very true. Do you mean I cannot order from UK websites with a US debit card?
I wanted to order from this one website in the UK that specializes in dual monitor wallpaper <for my pc>. Will I not be able to order from them?

Don't know - what system does it use. Switch is the biggest debit system in the UK, but is being phased out over the coming 2 years or so in favour of a Europe wide replacment. I know a few people with Visa debit cards. If you have one of these it might well work in the UK. Tell us what sort of card it is and we can give you an idea of whether it will work. (Sorry for this going so off topic by the way!)

[Madscientist_UK]

Originally posted by Nermal
Remember that birthdays are visible in the user profiles (if the user puts it in), so you can always work out the age from that if you want to.

What Nermal said, that way if you want people to know how old you are you can put in the info and if you don't want to you just leave it out.

My brother is only 12 and he's got enough about him that he's mucking about with TCP/IP conections on our macs at home so that he can play multiplayers games. If he was posting I'd still want people to take into account that he was younger though, even if he wouldn't. I suppose if you want people to take your age into account you should put it into your profile where it will show up

Originally posted by voicegy
Well, you can always submit modifications to your profile so they'll show up under your name in every post...add it to your location, for instance. So it should be up to each user how much info they want to give up on themselves, not the owner.

If you don't want people to know then you can leave your age out but you shouldn't then use age as an excuse when you make a mistake or get flamed. I think that generally when posting people should remember that there will be people of all ages including young kids who will be reading the posts even if they don't reply.