Written on October 5th, 2007 at 04:10 pm by Darren Rowse
How Old Are You? POLL
Time for this week’s poll. This week I’m asking a pretty basic demographic question:
How Old Are You?
I’m asking this because I’ve heard a number of people recently speak about blogging as a young person’s thing - however in talking to many ProBlogger readers I’ve found that the age range is quite broad.
How spread are the ages of ProBlogger readers? We’ll soon find out.
If you’re reading this in RSS you’ll need to come on over and vote here.
How Old are You?
Looking forward to seeing the results on this one!
105 Responses to “How Old Are You? POLL”
Endijs
October 5th, 2007 4:36 pm
I will predict that most of bloggers are 20-30 years old. But what is more interesting - biggest % of them are somehow related to IT (at least in Latvia).
Clarke Scott
October 5th, 2007 4:55 pm
Darren,
My prediction is most will be between 31-40
Mamacita
October 5th, 2007 4:58 pm
I just hope SOMEBODY is older than me. . . .
Bryce
October 5th, 2007 4:59 pm
So many people are surprised I’m only 14.
Rciardo
October 5th, 2007 4:59 pm
I’ll predict most ppl are in their early 20’s
jen at semantically driven
October 5th, 2007 5:05 pm
In a week’s time I would have had to move up one age category!
Markus
October 5th, 2007 5:05 pm
As expected, the age will be somewhere between 20-35. It’s the generation “blogger” ;)
David
October 5th, 2007 5:08 pm
its hard to say what I think, I would guess the biggest age group would be from 25-35 but thats split between 2 brackets. I figure the numbers would start to tail off after about 35. Then again, the Myspace crowd would probably fill the 21-25 slot…wow this is making me feel old.
Rishi
October 5th, 2007 5:16 pm
I am currently 14 years old and enjoy to be a problogger.
BTW, Darren Sir, does age matters in blogging?
Meg Meyer
October 5th, 2007 5:18 pm
Looks like it’s a pretty even spread, so far. 21 through 40 are equally represented.
Brian Auer
October 5th, 2007 5:20 pm
At 41 votes, it’s already looking like a fairly normal distribution centered at the 26-30 group. Fairly expected.
Koen
October 5th, 2007 5:20 pm
I’m 15, but there’s no option for that…
under fifteen (starts from 14, as 15 is not under 15)
16-20 …
Sportaphile
October 5th, 2007 5:31 pm
wow, a blogger over the age of 70? That one caught me off guard. Maybe I was stereotyping a little, but I was under the impression that most people over the age of 70 don’t even know what a blog is.
motorsportBABESau
October 5th, 2007 5:37 pm
26 to 30 with the lead so far! I will be in that bracket in 5 months!
Kelvin Kao
October 5th, 2007 5:38 pm
I wonder how much it changed with the arrival of facebook and myspace. Before those social networking sites (profile based) come along, people network by creating blogs like xanga, livejournal, etc. to connect to each other. So we used to only have blogs with social networking features, but now many people are shifting to a social networking site with blogging features. I wonder how much that affects demographics of bloggers, especially for high school and college students.
I think another related survey you can do is: how old were you when you started blogging?
Ivo Stankov
October 5th, 2007 6:23 pm
Almost 21 :) Nice poll.
Pear
October 5th, 2007 6:24 pm
Man I feel old at 43!
CatherineL
October 5th, 2007 6:33 pm
That’s interesting. I’m in the most popular age group - I’m 38. I thought there would be more younger people. Mind you - perhaps people are more likely to read blog written by their age group - especially the under 21’s.
pelf
October 5th, 2007 7:08 pm
The 26-30 group is leading! =)
Chip
October 5th, 2007 7:14 pm
I would love to have a small conversation with a 60+ blogger, also specialized in stuff like SEO, blogging, IT, promotion, affiliation techniques. It would be nice.
I predict we will all be 60-70 in about 40 years. I bet on it. :)
Sid
October 5th, 2007 7:18 pm
Wow so many people around my age of 21 .Its great to know that the young people are actively indulged in this lovely passion.
Caitlin
October 5th, 2007 7:19 pm
This isn’t one of your categories but I would expect most bloggers who read ProBlogger to be 25 to 35. If you count all the people “blogging” on MySpace et al and not trying to do it professionally, then it would be much, much younger.
I had to tick the 31 to 40 box but I’m only 31 - I consider 28 year olds as my peers, not 38 year olds.
Caitlin
October 5th, 2007 7:20 pm
CatherineL, you are not really in the most popular age group because 21 to 30 has been split into two categories. If you add up 21 to 25 and 26 to 30 then it’s substantially more than the 31 to 40 category.
Lies, damn lies and statistics!
Jacob
October 5th, 2007 7:24 pm
I wanna read the 70 year old’s blog! Hilarious if it turned out to be a celebrity blog with all the latest gossip on TomKat or some such.
GettyCash
October 5th, 2007 7:34 pm
Voted I’m a sexy 24 years girl:-) Nah, j/k I am not that sexy lol
Patrick
October 5th, 2007 7:39 pm
I’m 41 but I always want to have a 26-30ish mindset. As someone who like technology I always want to keep an open mind and play. I can still see the playful attitude in some people in who are past retirement age but are still playing, inventing and involved.
Darren Rowse
October 5th, 2007 7:45 pm
yeah - I should have done it in decades instead of having 5 year categories but it could have blown out the number of categories.
Sarat Chandran
October 5th, 2007 8:18 pm
I’m 14. =) I don’t think there will be too many 14 year old people around here.
Lisa
October 5th, 2007 8:21 pm
I think MySpace is for older bloggers and Facebook and Bebo are for younger bloggers. I don’t connect with MySpace and I’m 24 - I find that a lot of people who refer to it are actually more towards the 30 age bracket.
Lisa
October 5th, 2007 8:26 pm
And I also think that Gen X people dominate the blogging world - a lot more egotistical or something… Massive generalisation I know!! Of people in my age group who have blogs, most use them for networking rather than pushing their ideas onto the world
Vincent Chow
October 5th, 2007 8:33 pm
16 here. Wondering if those 3 of 70 years old plus is for real.
Sean
October 5th, 2007 8:56 pm
I’m 40 and glad to help skew the results further away from those young whipper snappers !!
Zlatan
October 5th, 2007 9:00 pm
17 here. :)
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy
October 5th, 2007 9:07 pm
12 Sep 1945. I notice several already older than I. One of the things I like about blogs and the online world in general is that age does not matter near as much as it does in face-to-face relationships. I have many friends on line in their teen years … if we met in real life we’d probably be wondering what to say to each other. On the older side, though, I repurposed one of my blogs to aim at senior citizen bloggers … since I are one … and the response has been great. You know if you think online activity stops at say age 40, you may be missing out on a whole huge market segment … us “Baby Boomers” have, in general a lot of free time, a lot of disposable income … we aren’t raising teenagers any more, and a thirst for knowledge … potent marketing combination for folks who can think beyond ring tones
Allison
October 5th, 2007 9:20 pm
I’m 41 but my inner teen is about 14. :)
Sabrina's Money Matters
October 5th, 2007 9:25 pm
The poll on my site has told me so far that most of my readers are 15-25. Which is good, because that’s who I’m targeting, I think yours will primarily be 20-30 though. :)
Michael Boateng
October 5th, 2007 9:31 pm
I am 26 …. still got more years ahead ;)
OPENGIGA
October 5th, 2007 10:03 pm
That’s a great polling.
Waiting for the next result ;-)
James Roussel
October 5th, 2007 10:04 pm
I think as time goes on you will find more older people starting a blog. It takes time for us older generation to catch up with the younger ones. We don’t move as fast. But here we come, I’m 54 and ready to blog.
Doug McCaughan
October 5th, 2007 10:19 pm
3 of my children blog, albeit irregularly and often not more than a few sentences per post. They are 11, 14 and 17.
CharmCityGirl
October 5th, 2007 10:25 pm
I am 43 and expected to be in the minority. I am glad to see a fairly broad range.
Gusti
October 5th, 2007 10:33 pm
I’m 18
Cathy
October 5th, 2007 10:41 pm
Argh! I’m 41 and you grouped me with the 5o-year-olds.
Vik Dulat - Making Money the Easy Way
October 5th, 2007 10:55 pm
23 years old here :)..I feel young compared to some other responses in there..Don’t worry people..Age is just a number.
April
October 5th, 2007 10:57 pm
I’m old! I just turned 30. :(
Mike Goad
October 5th, 2007 11:00 pm
This one of the more interesting posts recently, Darren. Of course, most of your posts are interesting.
I’m not surprised that I’m in one of the groups with a lower number. I’m also not surprised that there are people older than me blogging.
I’m 55 and have the time to blog and interact on time because I’m retired, though I’ve actually been blogging for several years.
Shankar Ganesh
October 5th, 2007 11:05 pm
I’m 15 and I just love to blog :-D
CatherineL
October 5th, 2007 11:15 pm
Cathy - that is awful being put with the 50 year olds. I am lucky, I’m only 3 years younger than you and I got grouped with the thirty year olds.
Darren is obviously going on for 40 but wanted to be in a “younger” group!
Pat B. Doyle
October 5th, 2007 11:20 pm
Yes, there are people over 70 blogging. This lady has a great blog, and she is over 80:
http://cbreaux.blogspot.com/
Pat B. Doyle
October 5th, 2007 11:25 pm
Oops, I should have linked to her other blog - it has her photo so you can see she’s a real person:
http://cbreauxannex.blogspot.com/
Tim Broder
October 6th, 2007 12:10 am
23 for me, go youngins!
Stephanie @ PoorerThanYou
October 6th, 2007 12:11 am
Just last week I made the jump from the 16-20 to the 21-25 bracket =D
Feels good to be able to check that box!
Jummy
October 6th, 2007 12:12 am
I’m surprised that the 31-40 age group is currently leading!
I wonder which age level will win.
Anne Wayman
October 6th, 2007 12:14 am
lol, maybe you can put those of us in our 6th and 7th decade together?
Trula
October 6th, 2007 12:40 am
I think personal blogging is still a young person’s thing, and by young I mean 16-24, maybe even up to late 20s. But professional blogging (including monetized personal blogs) I think is more people in their 30s and 40s. at least that’s who I know about making good money from blogging.
simon
October 6th, 2007 12:56 am
26-30
Ravi
October 6th, 2007 1:16 am
I think Trula is probably right.
The vast majority of “young” bloggers — 20 and under, myself included — seem to be personal bloggers. They’ve graduated from MySpace/Xanga, but aren’t ready to make the conversion to a topical monetized blog (of which I’m currently in the process). Guys like Carl Ocab are, of course, the exception to the rule.
Very interesting poll, would’ve never thought to ask.
Brian
October 6th, 2007 1:23 am
Go 30 Somethings!
Evelyn
October 6th, 2007 1:29 am
This is interesting. We know you’ve got a huge reader base, but that’s quite a spread! There’s a study in psychology to be had here. That would be a fascinating read for all of us!
Jeremy Steele
October 6th, 2007 1:35 am
I’m a poor starving 18 year old blogger :(
SharkGirl
October 6th, 2007 1:46 am
43 here. Cool to see people my age and older out there blogging. I’ve learned more since I’ve started blogging than I did in high school.
What I like about blogging is it breaks down the generation gap. I can read someone’s blog based on the content and not care about the age of the person who’s blogging. So much to tell, so little time to tell. All ages can interact with each other and it’s great.
Kel
October 6th, 2007 2:38 am
I think the age divisions could be different… like… put 14 to 18 together to see high-school aged kids… etc…
yay for 70 year old bloggers. I hope I’m blogging when I’m 70
EelKat
October 6th, 2007 2:50 am
I’m 32, been reading ProBlogger since I was 30.
EelKat
October 6th, 2007 2:53 am
Why did my comment not show up? and why did I get a message saying:
WARNING: Dulpicate comment! Looks like you already posted that!
But I only posted that one comment and it’s been over a month since I last posted a comment, and it certainly wasn’t to say how old I was!
I’m 32, been reading ProBlogger since I was 30.
mossygnome
October 6th, 2007 3:38 am
Many years ago, I used to think 30 was old! Now I think it’s young(ish).
I wonder who is the oldest blogger in the world? Here’s one aged 92 -
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/11/18/meet-a-92yearold-blo.html
Mamacita
October 6th, 2007 3:58 am
Those of you who are of the mindset that blogging is mostly for the younger set might be surprised to find out that there are thousands of baby boomers out there who have been blogging for several years now.
I am a professional blogger also, but I’ve maintained an almost daily post on my personal blog since April 2004.
I am also still vain enough to be glad there are so many people even older than I am.
Remember, you can’t ever tell about a person by their outsides.
Also, the Blogosphere gives everyone a chance to become acquainted with people of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, professions, etc. because ultimately we all have a lot to offer each other. In “real life,” there are so many obstacles sometimes, but on the internet? We are all the same. The internet is The Village - not that scary one in the bad movie, but the helpful one we all need in order to raise our children and bolster one another.
Oh, and I have several older friends who have wonderful blogs!
mossygnome
October 6th, 2007 4:15 am
As you grow older, you don’t feel older - just look it and get treated like an oldie. Inside, you are the same person, whatever your age.
Perhaps the divisions into different age groups tell us more about attitudes towards contemporary technology - older people, initially less familiar with it, have more to learn and may be less likely to embark on blogging. Also, old people who are on low pensions are less likely to own computers or afford to use the internet.
Everton
October 6th, 2007 4:20 am
your sample is going to be skewed Darren as you don’t write for a ‘youth’ audience, and I imagine most people interested in problogging will be older.
coach anne
October 6th, 2007 4:48 am
CatherineL —
What’s so “horrible” about being grouped with 50-year-olds?
Watch that ageism — with any luck, you’ll survive into cronehood, as well.
Anne, about to turn 55 and proud of every well-earned gray hair.
Adam Singer
October 6th, 2007 5:00 am
24 - usually the youngest in the room with my group of peers - nice to see im not the youngest here for once !
Max Powers at http://ConsumerFight.com
October 6th, 2007 5:12 am
Was it how old I am or how old I act?
Paul
October 6th, 2007 5:23 am
I am 55 and trying to blog. Lots of ideas, lots of reading, but not much output. Oh yeah, I am also retired.
Deb
October 6th, 2007 6:49 am
Why are people questioning the validity of 70, 80 and 90 year old bloggers? These people have great stories and great wisdom to share. Maybe they need help with the html or the typing, but who’s the blogger the storyteller dictating or the typist manhandling the keyboard?
Go 50’s. Which is a whole lot more fun than the 40’s; trust me.
btw - I think there are just as many lifebloggers in the older ranges as there are youngsters.
Royston
October 6th, 2007 6:56 am
No surprises so far. It is good to see a nice group over 50.
Justin (pusha)
October 6th, 2007 6:58 am
I’m Winning! HAHA:)
Justin (pusha)
October 6th, 2007 7:00 am
Darren I think you should do an article on bloggers over 70. I’m surprised 14 people already have entered as 70+ maybe they’re just screwing around though.
Devil May Cry
October 6th, 2007 7:15 am
Just turned 21. ;)
Steve
Terra Andersen
October 6th, 2007 8:53 am
Almost 24! Great topic Darren!
kare anderson
October 6th, 2007 10:18 am
what survey tool did ou use for this and how well did you like or dislike it?
Dave
October 6th, 2007 11:00 am
I think it’s really cool that of all the people voting, more than 100 of them are over the age of 50. You Go, Boomers!
Andrew Flusche
October 6th, 2007 12:30 pm
Darren - It’s amazing that you can post such a simple poll and get this many comments & participants. Congrats!
Also, I admire the sly way your collecting demographics. They’ll be useful for sponsors, etc, in the future. :)
Andrew Flusche
October 6th, 2007 12:33 pm
kare - I believe Darren is using Democracy AJAX Poll:
http://blog.jalenack.com/archives/democracy
I’ve used it on my site, and it works well.
ChampDog
October 6th, 2007 12:47 pm
Amazing results as for now. I don’t expect the 31-40 is the highest. 1 year later I will join this group. :)
Darren Rowse
October 6th, 2007 1:00 pm
Andrew - actually I’m more interested in collecting this data to help me in tailoring the content for people - although I’m sure sponsors will be interested too.
Kare - yep - it’s Democracy - a plugin for Wordpress
Kidblogger :: Carl Ocab
October 6th, 2007 1:45 pm
Anyone up for a 14 year old blogger? :)
rhonda jean
October 6th, 2007 1:55 pm
I just voted in the 51-60 category but I only just made it at the top end of that. That’s the beauty of blogging. It’s suited to all ages.
Brad V.
October 6th, 2007 2:59 pm
Hey great poll! I’m 28.
My prediction that most bloggers will probably be in their 30s, maybe sharing a little with those of us in our late twenties. Either way, it’ll be close.
Genevieve
October 6th, 2007 4:04 pm
I’m 56. While I’m delighted to see my age group represented, I’d be proud if there were more of us. I must confess that I’m far, far geekier than most of my acquaintances who are more or less my age. Many of them use computers at work or at home, and some even surf the internet and use e-mail, but they are not very knowledgeable about making something appear on the internet themselves.
LintCollector
October 6th, 2007 5:06 pm
I had the perception that there would be a much smaller proportion of older bloggers that this poll is showing. It’s refreshing to have my stereotyped idea blown away!
It makes sense though. The longer you live, the greater the depth of experience you have to write from, and the more you have to say … potentially, depending on what you blog about of course.
Dennis
October 6th, 2007 9:09 pm
It’s nice to see that the majority of people up here is older than myself :)
Don’t forget to vote for Darren at http://www.iblogcup.com!
Anna
October 6th, 2007 11:58 pm
I’m one of the under-aged visitors of this site. I believe that most kids my age think they know everything and therefore don’t visit sites similar to this one.
Ujjwal Acharya
October 7th, 2007 12:28 am
I am surprised to see that more in 31-40 than in 21-30 (combined 21-25 & 26-30)!
Bill Henderson
October 7th, 2007 1:20 am
I have to laugh. I’m 64 and some of these comments, feeling old at 43 and all, crack me up. Old is how you view it. Yes, most of my older friends don’t get blogging, fear it, snob it, or feel left behind by it. Their loss. I have more friends now in their 20s and 30s, mostly because I do long-form improv comedy (no old folks in sight there!). I’ve been blogging for fun for 6-8 years and just launched my first professional blog (I’m a fiction writing coach). It’s a wonderful era for using the computer, if you know how. I’m sure glad I didn’t miss it!
income opportunities
October 7th, 2007 1:32 am
I’m in the range of 31 - 40. I thought blogging is for young adults but it seems that there are many bloggers in that age bracket. I wonder why?
sognatrice
October 7th, 2007 1:56 am
Truth be told I just wanted to be able to click on 26-30 one more time before I make the leap into the next category a couple weeks from now ;)
Make Money Online With Affiliate Programs
October 7th, 2007 2:00 am
I just hit 30! Started blogging when I was in my 20’s.
Heyi
October 7th, 2007 6:09 am
Plain but Excellent poll, I am 21 now!
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy
October 7th, 2007 10:04 am
Kept this in my active tabs becuse it’s very interesting … certainly one of the best supported surveys I’ve seen too. I started reading Problogger three years ago when I was 59 … I always felt welcome here but thought I was probably the “grandpa” of the site … wow, look at the numbers for over 60 and over 70! A very pleasant surprise to me and the numbers of still climbing. The way the groups are polled can’t tell for sure how many of the 20’s and below are under 18eeners, but the numbers will be very close to equal for teens and seniors … something I thought would be the case some years in the future, but hardly now. I’m noted for always telling people to change with theimes but it looks like I was caught napping.
And for you under 18eeners, welcome, you’ll be where we seniors are one of these days and may you have many successes along the way …and for the lady whose major problem in life is that she’s grouped with the “50s’ … be nice or we won’t let you advance to the 50+ club.
Michael
October 7th, 2007 11:13 am
I am 41 and my who has a blog is 49, my Dad does have a blog but hasn’t used it in a long while and tends to guest post on one of mine now, he is 69.
Jylan Wynne
October 7th, 2007 1:19 pm
I’m a 14 year old blogger too, and I mainly write about what I do and my local area.
Dawson
October 8th, 2007 1:04 am
I am 16, very mature, and I enjoy blogging. I started at 15, and worked my way up from Blogger to Wordpress on my website. And I love it. The poll results prove the blogging ‘age range’ is vast.
juliemarg
October 8th, 2007 4:34 am
I’m over 50 and have been blogging for 4 years. I think it’s easier to blog now then it would have been had I been 30 years younger… I have more diverse interests and I know more than I did then.
easss.com
October 9th, 2007 12:41 pm
Just turn 36 recently. Have a son at age 7
biofuelsimon
October 11th, 2007 9:56 pm
So how does this demographic fit with age bands in the wider populations of the US, Europe etc?
Travis Seitler
October 13th, 2007 3:41 am
Just turned 25. Wow, for an age poll this has a nice number of comments!
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