Regarding the choice of age ranges: my first intention is to separate adults from not-adults, so I picked age 18 as the threshold.

But beyond that, I'm kind of interested in the generational demographics. Gen Z is roughly as old as age 27, after which are Millenials. And the divide between them and Gen X is somewhere in the early 40s, but for simplicity I'm just using 40 as the cut-off.

If I could have more than four poll options, I would have been much more deliberate and precise, but shrug

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art i disagree but i can see why you think that

@jsstaedtler @jan I like how I just fall off the cliff at the end. Over 40 and you’re pretty much just dead already

@jsstaedtler
How old do the adults have to be?

@jsstaedtler I’m 17! I came here on 4th November 2022, so…

@jsstaedtler This is the first time I've ever had to pick the highest age category in a poll/form.

I feel like dust!

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art 23 now, but I was 16 when I first joined fedi actually

@jsstaedtler i'm less than 18 years old and know four other people in my age range who are also on fedi, so your hypothesis may be correct

(also if there's anyone my age around here and the topics we post about intersect in any way, feel free to tag me below)

@jsstaedtler looks like the younger adults have increased. I remember a poll a while back where the highest was 30+ and the second highest was 40+.

That could still go back down when a bunch of the new younger birdsite migrants decide not to stay.

@jsstaedtler It's a valid premise because there's nothing advertising the #fediverse to youth. If we as parental units and teachers show them all of what they can do in the fediverse, there's no reason why it would not appeal to youth. Just that fact that it is ad free might tip it in their favor.

@jsstaedtler Hey now, I’m here to avoid demographic scraping 😝.

@jsstaedtler i was only an adult by 12 days when i came onto fedi, does that count ?

@jsstaedtler Lucky. If there were more children, fascists would accuse us of grooming them to be nice people ;)

@jsstaedtler I think the technical skills and financial ability needed to set up an instance is also a hurdle for them. It's not as easy as setting up a discord server for your friends.

There aren't any kid friendly spaces on the fediverse where you can avoid adults and do stupid teenager stuff.

@jsstaedtler I just got Lego for my 40th birthday. Does that make me an adult or not?

@jsstaedtler Here's the results of a poll that I ran several months and waves of migrations ago: https://social.librem.one/@mcneely/109338225935485076

It will be interesting to see how this has changed over time!

@jsstaedtler Thanks for making 40+ the oldest category to make me feel ancient! 🙃

@jsstaedtler Hah, I'm 17 and am glad to report that Mastodon has been great ever since I joined.

@jsstaedtler come on old people, I need this win! Go go go 40+ ! 😅

@jsstaedtler maybe folks don’t need to know how many underage users are here 🤷

@jsstaedtler Wow, I thought Mastodon trended older, but it’s even older than I thought.

@jsstaedtler I think you're correct. Most of that has to do with social pressure to engage with your peer via whatever platform is popular with a given demographic. People are used to thinking in terms of platforms and the Fediverse == email of social media metaphor doesn't translate well under a certain age.

@jsstaedtler currently 18, but I had joined fedi multiple times since 2018 (I left because I couldn’t really find anyone then). You could very well be right.

@jsstaedtler nearly 23 here—experienced the *very *tail-end of the 'old internet' when rather young, it's been... certainly interesting to grow up knowing about and having seen parts of how things were before major social media services exploded into the mainstream, but never really having fully experienced it

@jsstaedtler So what age range are you talking about when you say that they "have likely experienced the Internet before most of those existed?"

@jsstaedtler been in the third option made me feel old…

@jsstaedtler might be selection bias but I've seen other polls saying similar. Anecdotally I can say older people who experienced the internet before it got monopolised by the big tech companies yearn for the simplicity that mastodon provide

@jsstaedtler I'm never sure which named generation I'm in, but at least here I neatly fell into a range!

@jsstaedtler Honestly it feels it I'm the youngest here, I'm 15 and I don't find any younger teens here, especially highschoolers

Most of the teens I know use Instagram and only one of them uses twitter.

@jsstaedtler I’m 69 years old. I’m surprised that there isn’t a category with a tombstone and a Grim Reaper. 😉 🪦 👻
P.S. 40 year olds, you’re in my group. 🤣

@jsstaedtler 30 years old. But it doesn't strike me as a matter of maturity. There are people in their 40s and 50s who I would never expect to see here. And although I really enjoy the vibes here, I have also seen some people acting incredibly immaturely, regardless of their age.

@jsstaedtler I’m in the 18-27 category and I definitely feel part of the minority here. Occasionally find it hard at times to fit in when almost everyone is 10+ years older than you.

Of course everyone is nice but it’s really hard to relate at times.

@jsstaedtler it's like an AARP convention in here.

@jsstaedtler Yeah, this is the oldest social media. Makes me feel alone

@jsstaedtler I would not allow my children on here because a lot of servers allow full nudity. Other parents probably feel the same. That may be another factor in the lack of children.

@jsstaedtler 37

@jsstaedtler @TabletopBellhop I’m a teacher. Instagram use is very high among my kids, as is Discord. According to them, Facebook is for confused old people, Twitter is for famous people. Only Insta and Discord are about seeing your friends.

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art i accidentally voted my age when i registered (which is like 5 years ago or so), guess it still fits the purpose ​:blobcatgooglyshrug:​

@jsstaedtler I think you'll find that the Internet at large is composed almost entirely of children, regardless of their age.

@jsstaedtler almost 20, but I discovered the fediverse as a middle schooler!

@jsstaedtler 52 and offended that 40+ was the highest iteration! LOL

@jsstaedtler @rstockm Thats why we need to bring students into the fediverse!

@jsstaedtler Experienced before the internet was invented, would be more accurate :)

@jsstaedtler
because i don't consider "18-27" to be fine grained enough, my input here

i'm in the range of 18<=x<=19, and i was definitely born long after the centralisation of the internet. i was raised on discord and instagram

the fediverse interest came from open-source interest, which came from linux interest, which came from trying to get discord running on my chromebook despite school access restrictions, ironically

discord was its own end

@jsstaedtler slight issue with the fact that most progenitors nowdays understand some degree of the internet and throw their kids to places which have an apparent level of moderation that's barely above "we won't show obvious porn to your children easily, promise" and are known to the general public as they left their internet superficial shenanigans in 2013.

@jsstaedtler The official app needs to add hashtag following. Its hurting this place so fn bad and I really dont get why they had another release wo it.

We can get more growth and even the results out but that needs to be fixed. The trending tab... doesnt always have interesting trends and if people cant connect theyll just leave.

I know its not related to the poll but it would help more people stay and Ive really put some effort into getting people here.

@jsstaedtler when I was still on Twitter my daughter called that a place full of dinosaurs. 😅

@jsstaedtler That were exactly my thoughts for few days!!

@jsstaedtler we all are old 😂😂

@jsstaedtler 60 or more, no native English speaker.

@jsstaedtler I'm 35, but I was 34 when I joined the fediverse.

@jsstaedtler yeah it definetely feels like everyone I come across is 30+. and no one I know irl is on fedi. still fun, but it means it can't replace $social

@jsstaedtler furthering your hypothesis: Mastodon somehow appeals to users who remember usenet, and is unappealing to users who don't.

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art Wow, these results are truly shocking to me. I thought there would be more people close to my age here but damn 3% is crazy.

@jsstaedtler I am flabbergasted by the youthful results so far. *cough* @Jade :)

@jsstaedtler ooh

@jsstaedtler

I couldn't find the category "almost dead ☠️", so I choose "over 40".

@jsstaedtler : interestingly @motoridersd launched a similar poll earlier today.
https://mastodon.social/@motoridersd@pug.ninja/110667772001227485

@jsstaedtler I'm 37. I experienced the internet through things like mIRC and forums as a youth. So I find it pretty cozy here.

@jsstaedtler Do I have to answer that? Makes me feel old... 😉

@jsstaedtler I am in this poll and I don't like it!

@jsstaedtler 17 tbh

Although finding the Fediverse is harder than a establishing connection to I2P.

@jsstaedtler this poll looking like a staircase lol

@jsstaedtler 49 Points from ... Germany! 😂

@jsstaedtler This is one of my main issues here, I’d be so glad to adopt the fediverse as the only form of social media I use, but my age group refuses to join it for some reason…

@jsstaedtler There's also a BUUUNCH of "minors DNI!" on here and it's really not cool.

@jsstaedtler I've been here since I was 15

@jsstaedtler My 16yo and I were talking about this over lunch. I mentioned recently joining and while she heard of mastodon, she was uninterested because she sees it as primarily adults.

@jsstaedtler Being in the second to oldest group makes me feel old.

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art And I reckon most of the devs and admins are at the younger end

@jsstaedtler I am really surprised by the early results, didn’t expect so many young people 😳

@jsstaedtler Mastodon does feel like exploring and discovering web 1.0 sites through links instead of search engines.

@jsstaedtler so that's why there is no vibe here 🤔

@jsstaedtler Given the nature of the way I use, curate follow and prune social media:

"The Fediverse" consists of mostly adults, and good bunch they are, However, ANY human with the ability to respectfully, humourously or succinctly express fundamental truths about themselves, the world, media, society or art is welcome in my timeline regardless of age.

@jsstaedtler That has surprised me! I am not an outlier

@jsstaedtler I've been on the internet since I was literally around 6-7 years old--around 2002.

Still recall the far less centralized days when I'd go on all sorts of forums. Not to stir up trouble, of course, but just to find places with people of similar likes.

Anyway, I'm 28, just for the sake of categorization! But I've been on Masto since around 2018, just not as actively as since 2020ish onward.

@jsstaedtler ooh I am part of the 3%

@jsstaedtler @stux I’m 53 and most definitely a GenXer

@jsstaedtler Those young people here might feel shocked seeing the results 😉

@jsstaedtler@mastodon.art 19

@jsstaedtler as a 27 yo about to turn 28, your age categories make me feel pain 😅

@jsstaedtler так и думал, что большинство это старые пердуны, которые еще помнят Fido и прочие BBS

@jsstaedtler how am I in the lower half of this? This is very disturbing news. 😑

@jsstaedtler Wow, I didn't expect your thesis to be so accurate.
I'm actually a bit surprised.
I thought younger people would be a bit more involved in technical stuff and more aware of what is good and what is bad about social media.

@jsstaedtler @wiredfire I think this poll is necessary and vital. I also hate this poll.

@jsstaedtler I’m a bit surprised at how many “older” folks are here. I thought it would mostly be kids and very young adults (18-23 roughly), but many folks are older than me (late 30s here). Glad to see a real diverse group of folks, in terms of age.

@jsstaedtler

72.
You really have to expand the poll with a question and a subquestion.

5) 70 or more years old, and

5a) Really? Are you still alive?

@jsstaedtler I'm curious... Over 40?

@jsstaedtler I bet most of us remember dial up ISPs, Prodigy, Compuserve or even calling into BBS systems back in the day.

@jsstaedtler hah. My youngest can hardly be bothered. She has IG and TikTok and Snapchat but really it’s Discord where she spends most of her time. My son says he spends too much time on TikTok. They both dislike Twitter. FB is for old people but universities / clubs nearly force you to use it.

@jsstaedtler

A guess: most (> 50%) denizens were born between 1956 and 1982.

@jsstaedtler Oof, good point

@jsstaedtler in my experience, most of those in their teens and twenties are on Discord not mainstream media platforms.