Lounger's ages

[Sir_Die_alot]

The birthday list gives each person's age, and it is interesting that (or so it seems) the vast majority are in their 30's.

This is no surprise when you consider when diablo came out all the people now in their 30s were in the primary target age for the game: their teens.

[Selby]

When I started posting on the battle.net DSF forums I was a single college student living in a crappy apartment.

Similar to me. I started posting in 1997 when I was 17. I'll be 29 in a week. Married with a house, 4 crappy cars, a son, and I even used to have a job last month! Time really does fly.

And yes, I even still play video games regularly!

[Viscous]

Thanks, I probably should have read the full man page (I just skimmed the readme). I'll try that when I resume the downloading. I'm not sure whether it will work or not, as technically, I'm not connecting to multiple files, but one php file that I'm passing a different parameter to each call. It's definitely worth a shot though.

I couldn't resist following up on this... mostly because of your mention of curl. But also because I had a vacation cut short because my spouse wrecked our 2008 Mustang (but that's another story).

Anyway I used a series of commands to get the usernames and birthday's of the all the Lurker Lounge accounts. I was worried about RAM usage (probably needlessly) so I didn't use just one command to pull down all the profiles.

Code:

curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[1-5000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out1
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[5001-10000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out2
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[10001-15000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out3
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[15001-20000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out4
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[20001-25000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out5
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[25001-30000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out6
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[30001-35000] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out7
curl -s http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index.php?showuser=[35001-39465] |&nbsp;&nbsp;egrep -A1 "Birthday|<div id=\"profilename" | ./parseAge > out8

The "parseAge" command is an awk script to parse out the username and the birthdate. It's rather ugly but I'll be happy to post it if anyone requests it.

It still ran pretty slow. All together it took about 2.5 to 3 hours to run. I PM'd the results to Pete, so he can work his numerical analysis.

I did notice that, even though the user numbers start with one and are incremented for subsequent users, not all numbers represent valid users. For example, there is no user associated with 10000 (i.e. there is no profile for this URL: http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...user=10000 )

Plus, new users are being added all the time (obviously), so my list is accurate as of around 4/9/2009 7:30 am EST.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I've processed the data from Viscous' list (thanks, again). I still have the latest data (which is about 8 years old) from Mirajj that I'm in the process of cleaning up, but it doesn't look like it is going to be much different from what I've posted before. So, this may be the last of this game for me. If anyone is interested, I have pretty much everything used for these three posts in an xl file. Anyone wanting a copy of that file, send me an e-mail with an addy that I can send attachments to.

According to the front page of the Lounge (when I looked) there were 16188 registered members.

From Viscous' list, there where 16263 entries. As he points out, not all member numbers correspond to a member. Of those entries 12036 gave no birth info (including, from a casual scan, many old time regulars). Two claim to be born in 1906 and 1908 respectively. Seven claim to be born in or after 2001. One claims to have been born on September 31st. That left 4217 'valid' entries.

I'm sure that some of those entries are spam bots or other thrash (e.g., Alex001Urimmisholi through Alex015Urimmisholi looks suspicious to me). However, a superficial scan seems to indicate that the vast majority are typical member names, and at least the birth dates are reasonable values. So, with he understanding that at least some of the data are flawed, the results are:

Code:

Data points     4217
    
Youngest        10.0
First quartile  26.0
Median          33.0
Third quartile  41.0
Oldest          67.0
    
Mode            26.0
Average         33.8
Std dev (pop)   8.5

The histogram data are:

Code:

  Age  Count     Age  Count     Age  Count
   10     1       29   145       45   127
   11     1       30   168       46   127
   15     2       31   167       47   130
   16     3       32   163       48   142
   17     5       33   131       49    41
   18     7       34   146       50     3
   19    22       35   128       51     2
   20   109       36   142       54     2
   21   124       37   133       56     2
   22   141       38   131       57     2
   23   157       39   133       58     1
   24   141       40   148       59     1
   25   173       41   136       63     1
   26   178       42   127       67     1
   27   159       43   132          
   28   145       44   137

Overall, it looks like the Lounge population mostly ranges from 20 to 48, and is pretty evenly distributed over those ages. The lack of sub 20 year olds appears to be a real effect.

Fun, but now, in the words of R. Dangerfield, "all gone, stupid.";)

--Pete

[Occhidiangela]

Overall, it looks like the Lounge population mostly ranges from 20 to 48, and is pretty evenly distributed over those ages. The lack of sub 20 year olds appears to be a real effect.

Did you mean "a real blessing" there? :shuriken:

[--Pete]

Hi,

Did you mean "a real blessing" there? :shuriken:

Shhh! That's supposed to be a secret. B)

--Pete

[LennyLen]

I'm 6 months over the average age.

[Xiuhcoatl]

Interesting results. FWIW I would be in the "closer to heaven" range (to be interpreted any way you like). ;)Now, can you do a survey of how many of those people are "non-committed lurkers" (made at least two posts - the first one might have been an accident)?:P

[Lissa]

I'll drink to that! :lol:

You'll drink to anything you fish! :whistling:

[--Pete]

Hi,

Now, can you do a survey of how many of those people are "non-committed lurkers" (made at least two posts - the first one might have been an accident)?:P

I really don't know what is in the member database other than the fields I've seen. But you can easily see the number of posts by clicking on the 'members' link up there where it says 'Help Search Members Calendar'. I just did so, and found 27 pages with 50 per page of members with 0 posts. Surprised me -- I'd expect someone to register only if they wanted to post. The true, pure, Lurker would read all the fora daily and never register;)

--Pete

[Esahaettr]

Thank you (and your curiosity) for bringing this up Pete. I haven't visited the Lurker Lounge in years, as I never had the connection quick enough to play WoW. The shift away from Diablo hit just as I was entering college, so I left the Lounge behind. I never was a big poster (maaaaybe double digit post count?), but I loved to scan the boards. The conversations and people were just so much more interesting than anywhere else. Honestly, where else would people go through the trouble of evaluating the age distribution of the members, just for fun? :)

I just found it funny, because as soon as I saw your post, I was curious too.

[Esahaettr]

On a second note... wow... I can't believe I actually remembered my login information. :D

[FireIceTalon]

April 24th, 1978

so I will be turning 31 in nine days. Seems so easy compared to how 30 was. Twenty wasnt bad at all neither was 25, but 30 was quite painful.

[kandrathe]

April 24th, 1978

So I will be turning 31 in nine days. Seems so easy compared to how 30 was. Twenty wasn't bad at all neither was 25, but 30 was quite painful.

Ya, you can't trust anyone over 30... I remember 30 was that point when you realize... I'm really not a kid anymore. I'm staring at 50 in a couple years... My grandpa retired at age 55, although by my dads time it was 65. For me, I'm pretty sure it will be 75.

[Leshy]

There are a ton of old names on there, who I wonder where they've gone over the years.

Considering mine is one of them, I'll go ahead and feel free to reply to this.

When I started posting on the DSF, I was either 15 or 16, living at home and just graduating from high school, starting to study Journalism. Now, about 9-10 years later I live in a small student apartment across the country, as I'm working on my Master's thesis after having switched from Journalism to Ancient History years ago, while also working part time for an insurance company to pay the bills.

It's fairly amusing (well - to me, at least) how this particular period coincides with my ridiculous decade of being a student:)

Also, good to see many of you are still trucking along! *tips hat at Pete and Occhi*

[--Pete]

Hi,

Also, good to see many of you are still trucking along! *tips hat at Pete and Occhi*

And a tip of the hat back to you:)

Your input has been missed over the years, glad to see you back and I hope you stay. I remember our discussions on "the media". I guess you'll not be the one who rescues it from itself:) Ancient history sounds like fun, but what are the job prospects? Do you hope to make it your profession, or do you think it will have to be an avocation?

--Pete

[Chaerophon]

Hi Pete,

Funny to see such an interesting post about the Lounge's history at this time - I was just mentioning the "formative effect" of this place to a colleague today. I've actually brought the Lounge up on many occasions as a place where I was first exposed to "real" politics - where I first came to realize what politics was all about - by running into and chatting with a cast of really interesting characters from all walks of life holding all kinds of different opinions. I'm 27 now, working on a PhD in Political Science. I guess I was about 19 when I started lurking here.

There's a growing literature on the "echo chamber effect", but the Lounge and places like it have made me very resistant to the idea that the internet stifles discourse and polarizes debate. I came here because I loved to play a game, but found as diverse of a community as one could imagine. I learned as much about how other people think about the world here as I have in any other single place. The time I spent "ruminating" (fuming is probably a better word) over all kinds of political and philosophical questions with many of you has had a tremendous influence on the future course of my life.

So, thanks to you and others (you know who you are) for chatting over the years. I remember you fondly, and I hope to pop in more frequently in the future.

[TaMeOlta]

Was this an elaborate trick to figure out what to get me for my birthday ? :whistling:

//waves to all//

[Occhidiangela]

Considering mine is one of them, I'll go ahead and feel free to reply to this.

When I started posting on the DSF, I was either 15 or 16, living at home and just graduating from high school, starting to study Journalism. Now, about 9-10 years later I live in a small student apartment across the country, as I'm working on my Master's thesis after having switched from Journalism to Ancient History years ago, while also working part time for an insurance company to pay the bills.

It's fairly amusing (well - to me, at least) how this particular period coincides with my ridiculous decade of being a student:)

Also, good to see many of you are still trucking along! *tips hat at Pete and Occhi*

Still addicted to pizza, are you Leshy?

Man, it is so, so good to "see" you again. :lol:

Occhi

[Occhidiangela]

Was this an elaborate trick to figure out what to get me for my birthday ? :whistling:

//waves to all//

Uh, since we know it would be Guinness, no. :lol:

Occhi