How Old Are We All?

I'd like to remind you that the oldest millennials are now in their 40s. Youngest are pushing 30.

The real challenge is to hook in the Gen Zs.

Posted
at… see (hover on) post time.

With only about 75 votes in around 2/3 as a percentage are aged between 50 and 70.

This reflects the probability that "advanced photography" is relatively expensive, requires a considerable amount of time - and younger people are often very busy bringing up the family, paying off the mortgage et cetera.

Of course, young crowd spends lots of time online interacting with other people via Twitch or other gaming outlets, but not in these types of written-only forums.

Yes but I notice at the time of Greg's post there is also a large chunk of members in their 40's. About 75% of members at that time were between 41 - 70, middle age and later.

That is unexpected outcome, for me anyways...
Could not imagine myself as a young photographer at 34. A lot to learn here, great!
What could I give though. Time, not really, experience, eh uh, hardly, money - what money. Millenials and Z-ers are useless! 😂

Been a lovely life!

I thought I knew everything about cameras, lenses, and darkrooms (and had used almost every kind of camera there was, some truly antique) at 25 ...

Then at 50, I started to learn what a digital camera was.

Now, at 70+, I know I know very little, but far, far more than I did after my formal training as a photographer!

Maybe but my own experience doesn’t suggest this. I started “advanced photography” as you say in my teens/20’s (I’m now in my 60’s) I’m guessing that a LOT of the older members here and DPR started around that age too.

Yet today, there are virtually no “young” photographers on either this site’s poll or DPRs poll. That suggests to me that forums like this and DPR are simply not of interest to many of them. Hence why forums like this are dying - so are their customers - and younger generations are simply not spending time on sites like this.

About 15-years ago, I knew a circle of young, photographers. Some men, some women. They had talent. They used DPR a lot for information (camera reviews, news). But they thought the forums were full of nothing but “nasty old men’ (their words, not mine) and never spent any time on the forums. Unfortunately, I don’t recall where they told me that they did spend time…. It may have been instagram or something like it.

Yeah, we bikers are getting older and older (actually I'm an ex-biker after a really bad thing happened in Scotland in 1990) but I still am a biker at heart)!

I think most of what you say is true and explains why there are so few threads in the Beginners Forum both here and on DPReview now since the closure announcement.

Fwiw, I am in my 60's but first got into photography about 16 years ago with my first camera, a digital compact point and shoot.

Today there is so much information elsewhere on the Internet, and unfortunately the vast majority "teaching" the fundamentals is wrong, that beginners or even more advance people go to because the information is instantaneous.

I sense younger people prefer to receive their information via a video on YouTube, or whatever, rather than have to type their query into a post and then wait for a reply.

a) we didn't have a landline till '64,
while the radio came in late '58 and the fridge in early '60

b) Nikon did foresee that, as per usual in that company

( what the Z is for - otherwise it's not a hook, just a mount )

This discussion reminds me of a Monty Python sketch.

Most hobbies have a group of elders whose prime goal seems to be passing it along to the younger generations. Other than justifying their time spent, I haven't the slightest idea why they do that. I will be dead before Gen Z or their children can afford what this hobby has become. Why should I care what they do? I am sure the manufacturers will figure it out.

There is no traffic in the Beginners forum because we all came from DPR, none of us are beginners, your threads about ISO scare everybody away, and of the 4000 people who signed up here, only 1400 have posted anything.

None of which really have anything to do with industry trends. Its a polluted sample size of nothing.

I agree with you. And, while it’s potentially possible to do so, it seems to me unlikely that a forum like this, populated by us, will be able to do so. Gen Z’s use the internet as a resource a LOT…. They don’t know a world without it….. they were literally born into a world with it……. If they are not here (or other forums like it) now, they probably won’t be.

One young photographer on these boards just posted on this forum a link to his/her telegram account. Predictably, the first number of responses were “what’s telegram?” , “I thought telegrams were no longer a thing”……. Maybe some folks were just having fun, IDK…. But that type of “fun” would certainly re-enforce the idea in my own kids minds that these forums are for dinosaurs and these type of forums will die with their customers. 30-years from now, the cycle will repeat, as it has for much of modern history.

That was me that started that thread. Us Gen-Z's are not all tiktok and instagram. Telegram and WhatsApp (even though its part of Facebook) are good for setting up small groups and general messaging. But telegram can't replace a forum like this with different subjects and experts commenting in each. I think Forums will continue to be a learning resource. I'm always open to new contacts on my telegram so if anyone wants to drop me a hi my addy is @sandyjenning

San x

Gen X (and not a phone user, by choice).