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I have found that there have been some really good threads until it gets ruined by someone "younger" spouting off or giving their opinion to something that probably hasn't occured in their life. A good example to that one was the "unconditional" love thread. That got way off topic.
So, yes...................
I have noticed that it soon becomes obvious, maybe not the poster's chronological age, but certainly their maturity level after the first line or two.
We have all run into folks that we know are in their later years, but their attitudes and language reflects those of someone in their teens.
On the other hand, I have read some posts from several very mature, knowledgeable young adults who I would trust in a heartbeat if they were offering an opinion. I can think of one young college student who has stated on the forum that he is 19 years old. He is respectful, knows what he is talking about, provides the stats to back up his information and shows interest in many areas. His parents can be very proud of their son.
There are adults on the forum who do not show respect, use fowl language and are not at all in the know.
Age is a state of mind - not a number. We all grow older, but not all of us grow up.
I have noticed that it soon becomes obvious, maybe not the poster's chronological age, but certainly their maturity level after the first line or two.
We have all run into folks that we know are in their later years, but their attitudes and language reflects those of someone in their teens.
On the other hand, I have read some posts from several very mature, knowledgeable young adults who I would trust in a heartbeat if they were offering an opinion. I can think of one young college student who has stated on the forum that he is 19 years old. He is respectful, knows what he is talking about, provides the stats to back up his information and shows interest in many areas. His parents can be very proud of their son.
There are adults on the forum who do not show respect, use fowl language and are not at all in the know.
Age is a state of mind - not a number. We all grow older, but not all of us grow up.
Very true. There is another poster that I've also run into that is much older (50something) and his posts are just as bad. Some of the comments are just plain "out there" and so false and misleading that even if I try to show the truth w/ actual factual data and proof they go off (talking about distances in mileage, # of apartments in area, # of registered sex offenders, etc - all things that can be proved). Age is a number but the reason I'm posting this thread in the first place is because of a particular poster that several of us have had issues w/ because of their severe lack of knowledge of the area due to their age and length of "stay" and the fact that they are in one small area of a VERY LARGE metro area. When they try to come off as something they are not in giving out info to people looking to relocate that is misleading I believe it is something that the people seeking info should know.
A good post is a good post regardless of age. I think you can tell whether a poster is insightful, intelligent or knowledgeable by his post, I am not sure their age matters at all really. Yes a lack of life-experience will show but that sadly can also be seen in much older posters.
I am often very impressed with very young people ( teenagers or even younger kids) who can be incredibly well-read and well versed in Politics, Foreign affairs and keep up pretty well on subjects like Philosophy or Religion.
I have met kids with more wisdom in their little finger than most adults have in their entire body.
A few of the ones that I'm thinking about have actually commented about still being in high school...or being 15! After awhile, you can read through the blanket generalizations or see that the information posted is always so wrong and/or mean-spirited especially when they've never even visited a certain state or city.
I'm not disagreeing that age does not matter, as it does put things in context. But I think we've all "known" a poster or two who had something to say about every state...and they weren't necessarily young.
Our generation will come around and it'll be huge. Sit back and wait until you become obsolete. Creep on your kids myspace if it helps pass the time but remember who raised these kids.
I have a few questions for all of you that are thinking about moving and have moved. It has to do w/ the people that post on C-D and how much credit you give them.
1. Would their age matter?
2. Length of time in city/area?
3. Size of area:
These things are absolutely critical in validating and weighing people's opinions expressed on this forum.
1- absolutely - In the past I've posted why I like an area only to see a high school or barely out of high school-aged person chime in about how they strongly dislike an area. Typically younger folks will use phrases such as: it's boring/there's nothing to do, how they are itching to leave, how everyone is backwards... etc. These kids are typically full of unfocused angst, would not be happy wherever they were, and have grass is greener elsewhere attitudes due to their very small worlds. Inevitably they don't provide their age or anything indicating their age in their post, but if you do just a little homework via searches of their other posts, you can quickly estimate it. I always try to figure this out for new posters who's opinions I immediately disagree with.
2- once again absolutely - it takes a while to really learn about an area.
3- yes, that helps too - understanding if a person is from a small town or large city sometimes provides needed context to validate observations. This isn't quite as critical as other poster background information but nonetheless I like to know it.
Outside of the above things I also like to know if anyone who complains about an area might be doing so just because of a 1) relationship breakup/traumatic experience they might be projecting on an entire area OR 2) if they have a history of negative posts/discussions about being depressed.
Before I take anything seriously, I want to know if what someone has written is really objective (or as objective as possible). More often than not everything above can be learned with just a quick search of their profile and the posts someone has made in the past.
I agree with mooseketeer, a good post is a good post. The only time I think about age on here is when I'm starting a thread. I make sure I don't start a thread about something I wouldn't want a child to see.
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I know some pretty immature fifty-somethings!
We all grow older, but not all of us grow up.
