Sam Seltzer-Johnston
Thinking about this poll (linked below) and how I was surprised at first how low the <26yo range was. Besides the poll being biased by reach based on their followers, instance, and whoever boosted it, there's one thing the folks of that demographic have in common that could lead them to bounce off Mastodon and the concept of the Fediverse in general: They were not fully present for The Old Internet. People currently in their mid 20s may have some vague recollection, but everyone younger has never known a decentralized web! The era of independently moderated forums had already given way to Facebook and eventually Twitter. Millennials were the final generation with the opportunity to fully experience both.
https://androiddev.social/@cliffwade/109342402279927888
Cliff Wade :novaLauncher: (@[email protected])

I'm just generally curious as to the breakdown of age groups here on Mastodon. I understand if people don't want to share that information. Please boost for maximum exposure! #Poll #Polls #POTD #PollOfTheDay #Question #Questions #QuestionOfTheDay #QOTD #AgeGroup #Age [ ] 25 years or younger [ ] 26 - 40 years young [ ] 41 - 60 years young [ ] 61+ years young or wiser?

Android Dev Social
Nov 20, 2022 at 6:24pmWeb
Show threadMegNov 20, 2022
@sbseltzer yeah this was my instinct as well when thinking about the age breakdown of people who skewed here vs people who skewed to cohost over the last couple months.
Show threadMichaelNov 20, 2022
@sbseltzer yeah, I think that’s it. I think a lot of people of a certain age only know the internet as a thing that’s basically just a few big places and it’s hard to adjust to something different than that. Personally I really miss that version, or at least parts of it, and I’m hoping we see a return to it
Show threadSony Bravia, Beware...Nov 20, 2022

@sbseltzer I agree. Most of the independently-moderated forums I came across were whatever dinosaur or media-related forum I'd find through Bing (and later, Google) as a kid. I witnessed the leftover dregs of the decentralized web, and those forums I'd spend hours perusing were shut down a year or two later instead of mere months, if I was lucky.

I didn't even realize what their end had spelt, and merely moved on to Google+, Facebook, et cetera.