Poll 2019: Age at last birthday

[pepeguitarra]

A handful of respondents have shared their age.

Maybe not enough to be very representative of the forum – but the early results are in:

Average age: 54.

Hmm, a quick look at the "poll results" graph suggests this may be too young. ;^)

Since you are at it, what is the MEDIAN?

[Heroique]

The median age (at my previous post) is 56.

Looks like the youngest is 23, with a giant leap to the next youngest, 37!

The wisest is 70.

[pepeguitarra]

The median age (at my previous post) is 56.

Looks like the youngest is 23, with a giant leap to the next youngest, 37!

The wisest is 70.

So, the median is very close to the average? Then, 50% are over 56 and 50% are younger than 56, correct?

[Heroique]

Yes, and I suspect both the average (54) and median (56) ages will "grow older" as the thread ages.

[mmerig]

A handful of respondents have shared their age.

Maybe not enough to be very representative of the forum – but the early results are in:

Average age: 54.

Hmm, a quick look at the "poll results" graph suggests this may be too young. ;^)

Thanks for the calculation, and I agree with your intuition on it being too low. But i was curious anyway, so for an average age based on the graph, I used the mid-points of the age bins, and assumed a top age of 80 for the 61 and over class, and ignored the "Other" category. The weighted average is 56.7.

Another way to know the average age is for someone with access to the reported data on LFPF members birthdays to calculate it from those data. But the age distribution is important too. Obviously, if the graphed distribution is a reasonable, stable estimate, the number of LF photographers will decline rapidly in the next 15 years. But this assumes that those that are older now started young, rather than a significant proportion getting into LF later in life that are not even being counted now. Maybe there is a poll already out there, but knowing the age of when people started LF and how long they stayed with it would inform how stable the age distribution will be. I would imagine that film manufacturers would be interested in this prediction, as well as the population size too.

[dkonigs]

While I have no doubt that the LF community trends older, I think there is another factor here. In my own personal experience, there's a significant age bias among those who actually seek out communities for their hobbies.

Actually, in many groups, I've noticed a bimodal distribution. Younger folks sometimes show up, but rarely have the resources or interests to get involved. Middle-aged folks are too busy with their families to do anything. And older folks finally have the time again.

I'd also argue that trending older is actually not something everyone should be celebrating. When you don't have any young people in your group, its actually very off-putting to those young people who may actually have an interest in joining. (Though I think this factor is far more relevant to in-person camera clubs, than it is to online forums.)

[pepeguitarra]

I think younger guys are in Instagram.

[Tin Can]

FB owns it.

I think younger guys are in Instagram.

[pepeguitarra]

I am in Instagram and Twitter too.

[Corran]

The median age (at my previous post) is 56.

Looks like the youngest is 23, with a giant leap to the next youngest, 37!

The wisest is 70.

This poll/topic is not exactly representative, I assure you. I have not answered, btw.