Johann Sebastian Staedtler 🇨🇦

Hypothesis: The Fediverse consists almost entirely of adults.

I expect most youths are drawn to the large corporate social networks; but those of us who took the effort to come here have likely experienced the Internet before most of those existed.

Of course, the only way to test this is by collecting data using the most scientifically rigorous method available to me: a Mastodon poll, lol

(I expect this will only reach English-speaking Fedi, but do boost if you're able)

⬇️ What is your age? ⬇️

Less than 18 years old
2.2%
18 to 27 years old
17.3%
28 to 39 years old
35.1%
40 or more years old
45.4%
Poll ended at .
Jul 6, 2023 at 5:26pmWeb
Show threadJohann Sebastian Staedtler 🇨🇦Jul 6, 2023

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

Show threadhesirJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler I'm 54, my mother was born in 1928 (I think some of the Earp's were still alive), she had me late, I'm the youngest of eight. She, I guess, was one of "the (I originally wrote "Lost" but meant) Silent Generation", so as her child, not sure what that makes me... are these "gens" based on the gen that birthed you or just the period you lived through.... There's nuance in all that I guess... 🤔
Show threadKo Simon toku ingoa Jul 6, 2023

@hesir @jsstaedtler Gen are based on when you were born (these dates will move a little depending on who you ask).

“Lost Generation”: Born 1883-1900
“Greatest Generation”: Born 1901-1924.
“Silent Generation”: Born 1925-1945.
“Baby Boomers”: Born 1946-1964.
“Generation X”: Born 1965-1980.
“Generation Y” or “Millennials”: Born 1981-1996.
“Generation Z”: Born 1997-2012.
“Generation Alpha”: Born 2013-2025.

Show threadhesirJul 6, 2023
@SimonCHulse @jsstaedtler ...still, seems counter-intuitive that there's an entire generation between me and my mother.
Show threadFabian TranschelJul 7, 2023

@hesir @SimonCHulse @jsstaedtler I see what you mean. But this is (heuristically) true for everyone: Between you and your parents, there is a whole generation that neither you nor your parents can relate to.

Consider your personal network: Unless you live in a rural area where everybody knows everbody around, you probably know people from your parents network (~age of your parents) and your network (~your age) and your childrens age (if you have some).

Show threadFabian TranschelJul 7, 2023

@hesir @SimonCHulse @jsstaedtler Now, while I don't agree with many of the takeaways[*] from the "generation [blank]" research, the semantic structuring of cohorts is sensible to some extent. (It aims, how could it by any other way, to ease ad targeting, obviously...)

[*] Worst offender is the tryhard approach towards bucketing in a way that imposes the assumption that would seem to indicate a hard boundary between cohorts. That's of course pure BS.

Show threadBrian WatsonJul 7, 2023
@hesir @SimonCHulse @jsstaedtler it seems counter intuitive to me that my parents (early '46) and I ('66) are almost in the same generation.
Show threadFrank InserraJul 7, 2023
@hesir @jsstaedtler @SimonCHulse @GreatBlueHeron This is why the people who lengthen the Boom period from 62, then to 64, then to even 66, have it wrong. I always regarded the Boom, of which I am a part, to most characteristically reflect the offspring of those who served in WWII (and perhaps early offspring of those who served in the the Korean conflict) -- firm end at 60, maybe 62. In short, the Baby Boom that resulted from the end of the war and return of the troops. Even among the Boomers, I feel a distinct break between the early Boomers (think civil rights, anti-war, Haight-Ashbury, and The Strawberry Statement) and the late Boomers (think Watergate, Dazed and Confused, disco, cults, yuppies).
Show threadKo Simon toku ingoa Jul 7, 2023
@finserra @hesir @jsstaedtler @GreatBlueHeron my parents (born in 62 and 63, respectively, were children of Dads who served in the war. They were just young boomers.
Show threadsabikJul 6, 2023
@SimonCHulse @hesir @jsstaedtler
Yes, and the poll is being run in 2023; the conversion to ages is for the current year
Show threadBrendan JonesJul 7, 2023
@SimonCHulse I like how we started naming generations using the end of our alphabet ... so we had to move over to a new alphabet? 😆
Show threadKo Simon toku ingoa Jul 7, 2023
@Brendanjones I thought that was funny when I heard it too.
Show threadTYBJul 7, 2023
@SimonCHulse @hesir @jsstaedtler Depuis le temps que j'entends parler de 'génération XYZ' sans comprendre de quoi on parlait... mais, comme d'hab' on tente à tout prix de nous mettre dans des "Petites Boîtes" (Little Boxes pour les anglophones) jusqu'à la dernière petite boîte :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN7zwDKvNHE (eh ouais, je ne suis pas tout jeune 😋 )
Petites boîtes

YouTube
Show threadKo Simon toku ingoa Jul 7, 2023
@TYB @hesir @jsstaedtler I don’t speak French, sorry.
Show threadTYBJul 7, 2023
@SimonCHulse @hesir @jsstaedtler
TWP - Translate Web Pages works fine on mastodont
Show threadPaul Marrow 🇪🇺Jul 7, 2023
@hesir @jsstaedtler I'm older than both of you, but not by much. @hesir both my parents were younger. Generation names originally from US so sometimes different in other countries (I am not from US).
Show threadDeb has moved! (see profile) 🇨🇦Jul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler I do see a lot of >50 here :-) but that's for another poll :-)
Me: >60 \o/
Show threadGsmithyJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler perhaps the 30+ remember "small" social websites like old school fb or myspace/ bebo. Resonates?
Show threadMx LottieJul 6, 2023
@Gsmithy @jsstaedtler under that even, 29 and gosh I loved bebo, and before that we had a web ring on freewebs sites.
Show threadZaphod Beeblebrox Jul 7, 2023
@Gsmithy
23 here and I mostly just miss the one Skyrim internet forum where they helped me find Lydia when she disappeared
@jsstaedtler
Show threadPonderJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler I'm not far off 60!
Started on computers in 1979 and on the Internet in 1995.
Show threadCoccocoa's Helper Jul 7, 2023
@jsstaedtler My best bet is that there's multiple 10-12 year olds scattered around, and they MIGHT be impressively good at lying about their age. Either way; they're probably smart enough to deal with the art that you post, but yeah, having the warning thing is good, since they might just be wandering around. Intelligence is key, and I believe that most 10-year-olds can probably code already, and I can go as far as to say that some may react like adults, so yeah.
Show threadH. MantegazziJul 7, 2023
@Coccocoahelper @jsstaedtler I mean, if they are privacy-concerned enough to consider Mastodon, they know they should never reveal to be minors on the internet
Show threadCoccocoa's Helper Jul 8, 2023
@hmantegazzi @jsstaedtler I agree, and probably even some adults around also don't tell their true age too
Show threadmafe en españaJul 7, 2023

@jsstaedtler Thank you for making this clear. Is there any "most common practice" one can read?
For me the GenY thing kinda fits as the people in WCW's "De-Generation X" have been half a decade older than me, so GenX could have been a thing there.

Does anyone actually remember WCW? Slightly after WWF but befor the current WWE? 🤭

Yes, I am that old and Yes, I enjoyed that show, back when The Rock was acting as an unknown scumbag. 🤪

Show threadRev. GothAliceJul 7, 2023
@jsstaedtler The bell curve is still fairly well represented; and predictably weighted older.
Show threadPissy BadgerJul 10, 2023
@jsstaedtler Gen X is actually up in the early 50s or so.
Show threadBobaJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler Other similar polls have shown fedi trends older. A lot of people here wanted to "go back" to a type of social media the kids never got to experience. They weren't on forums, and they weren't on Twitter in 2013.
Show threadPB Livin'Jul 7, 2023
@TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler Was gen Z ever on Twitter in the first place? My impression was gen Z mostly uses Instagram and TikTok . No real reason for them to change platforms
Show threadkodeti Jul 7, 2023
@wh0sthatd0g @TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler Plenty of gen Z! I’m a teenager and have never used Instagram or TikTok. Twitter was my first social media, and I know plenty of people who are on it.
Show threadJoshJul 7, 2023
@wh0sthatd0g @TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler As a Gen Z myself I can assure you a LOT of people my age use Twitter or were extremely active on the platform back when we were in high school. I know tic tok is the hot new thing but before that instagram was the thing that everyone flocked too. It was perfect. All pictures or videos and you never had to to see cringy posts about how someone was angry for some ridiculous reason.
Show threadJossanJul 7, 2023
@wh0sthatd0g @TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler
Im a Gen z whos 17. Where im from (sweden) people my age barley use twitter. No one in my friend group uses it at all. Ive met one or two artists my age who use it to promote their art, but that’s really it. We mainly use tiktok, instagram and snapchat.
Show threadhachreJul 7, 2023
@wh0sthatd0g @TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler yeah, a lot of Gen Z is on Twitter
Show threadDavid 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️NB he/theyJul 7, 2023
@TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler 39 here and I know exactly what you mean. I really miss fan forums from the early days of the Internet. Online spaces felt much more like a community before the corporate takeover.
Show threadSven GeggusJul 10, 2023
@TapiocaPearl @jsstaedtler Even older. Usenet.
Show thread🌸 lily 🏳️‍⚧️   θΔ ⋐ & ∞Jul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler i disagree but i can see why you think that
Show threadrafal06Jul 6, 2023
@tauon @jsstaedtler the fediverse is not monolithic, in some parts the average age is lower than in other parts. I believe that in some more catgirly (let's pretend that's a real word) places the average is below 30, and on some more general tech and software instances the average is more like 40-50+
Show threadjoehumphrey🏴‍☠️Jul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler @jan I like how I just fall off the cliff at the end. Over 40 and you’re pretty much just dead already
Show threadoften frowned uponJul 6, 2023
@joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan idk about dead but very likely to be an adult.
Show threadjoehumphrey🏴‍☠️Jul 6, 2023
@virtulis depends on who you ask
Show threadJan ☕🎼🎹☁️🏋️‍♂️Jul 6, 2023

@virtulis @joehumphrey

You can call me a lot of things, but adult... I take offense!

Show threadJan ☕🎼🎹☁️🏋️‍♂️Jul 6, 2023

@joehumphrey

Yep. Once you're there, there's only one way: UP!

#LifeStartsWhenYoure40 :)

@jsstaedtler

Show threadlordxxlJul 6, 2023
@joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan could you write somewhat louder?
My hearing isn't as good as it used to be.
Show threadJeff C. 🇺🇦Jul 6, 2023
@lordxxl @joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan WHAT
Show threadthefathippyJul 6, 2023

@joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan

It just feels that way 😂😂😂

Oh 😭😭😭

Show threadApriloq - IMPEACH EVERY MAGAtJul 7, 2023
@joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan 🤣🙃
Show threadTelstar✨ impure thoughts: someJul 9, 2023

@joehumphrey @jsstaedtler @jan Yeah.... I'm old enough to think "self-moderated separate communities? Oh, they're reinventing Usenet forums." 😆

(I've been social online since about 1985, which is not only pre-web, but pre-internet. I've seen a lot....)

Show threadAbe T. AlienJul 6, 2023

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

I feel like dust!

Show threadJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler 23 now, but I was 16 when I first joined fedi actually
Show thread7331Jul 6, 2023

@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)

Show threadMeow.tar.gz  Jul 6, 2023
@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.
Show threadsarah toninJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler i was only an adult by 12 days when i came onto fedi, does that count ?
Show threadmuridJul 6, 2023

@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.

Show threadSylv    Jul 9, 2023
@murid @jsstaedtler “stupid teenager stuff” for me is like, coding
maybe i just never had a childhood
Show threadPeter BindelsJul 6, 2023
@jsstaedtler I just got Lego for my 40th birthday. Does that make me an adult or not?
Show threadCarorolynJul 7, 2023
@dascandy42 @jsstaedtler I got lego for my 49th birthday. I'm definitely an adult according to all the standard criteria - including, re this poll, having been Online since before twitter/facebook/etc, and having experienced BBSes/forums/newsgroups/etc.