Problem : We are a bunch of old farts in an echo chamber

[sab390]

I haven't been here as long as many and I don't post or even log in much but I look (lurk?) here several times a day. I am old, 68, and I am past a member of the SDS and the Weathermen. I just saw a post here about some under 40 complaining about something. I may be wrong but I think our demographic here trends more to my cohort. My question is "how can we attach more of the under 40?". I don't do social media. If you do got a suggestion? My only thought is to have an under 40 forum. I know trying to reach out will draw a lot of trolls but we have a good troll defense system. I also know much of the response will be "OK Boomer " but we should try. Yes it sounds like "children listen to your elders" but we went through this in the 60's and 70's and we might have something to offer. We were winning until. I would just like to try to attract the living and not just the nearly dead. (That's my description of me not you) Any thoughts?

sab

[MontanaMama]

1. DU is on Instagram

and the kids love the 'gram. I'm 58 years old and do not consider myself nearly dead nor do I consider those here on DU who are older than I am close to the grave. We're going to be okay.

[LiberaBlueDem]

2. Welcome to DU... lol

Seriously, yeah, I think we are a pretty good example for the young. I best like being on the streets, street corner talking up Biden and the party.

[AKwannabe]

5. Man guru. You been on the warpath today

Seen you all over DU being nasty.

We are friends here. Please remember.

[Recycle_Guru]

12. my apologies. I'll delete mine. just don't like the implication

[Doc Sportello]

6. This should be deleted

[Recycle_Guru]

14. done

[Torchlight]

10. Sounds serious.

Good luck

[AKwannabe]

4. I became a DUer at 46

Now almost 53

I learn a lot from DU elders but what brought me here was fear and minority status living in a red state (after 2016 election). I soon moved from that red state but not from DU.

I think that personal invitation to young people is one very effective and easy way.

I have personally invited many people but actually no one younger yet. I actively send out DU threads to my friends too.

I have one or two youngers I can think of right now that I will be speaking to….Not just sending links to. An active invite from someone they know and trust.

Thanks!
Good OP!

[calguy]

7. I'm 73, and I'm old enough to confidently say...

We've had our time, with successes and failures along the way. This forum does have a lot of younger folks, as it should. It's only natural that as each day goes by, there are fewer people in the world older than we are. We have the wisdom of our years, the younger generation has their hopes for the future. All in all, this is, to me, a forum where people of all ages can voice their opinions and share their ideas.

I've voiced opinions that some younger folks have objected to, and some have accepted. It's a take what you want kind of forum, and reject what you don't. My political activism days are long gone, but the voices I hear on this forum give me faith that others are stepping up to take our place. It's their future, and our past, that somehow blends together to shape the future.

[marble falls]

8. ...

?si=ztlkY7SYjtT6U5s4

[Elessar Zappa]

9. Well, I'm 39.

But I do think I’m one of the younger ones here based on polls in the past.

[GPV]

11. Yes, DU is graying. I asked my son to join. He said the millenials

are on X and Reddit.

[former9thward]

13. Just curious.

I was a West Coast organizer for SDS and SDS imploded in June, 1969. Which means you would have been 15 at its effective end. Where were you a member of SDS at that age? Weathermen went underground in Feb, 1970. So you would have been 15 or 16 at the most? How would you be a member of Weatherman at that age?

[sab390]

16. They didn't die just splintered

There were still some who called themselves SDS into the mid 70's. The Weathermen were always underground. Small cells loosely assembled kind of like Antifada today. I was recruited by a man who had been in a cell since the early 60's. You were a Weatherman because you said you were. I don't know, there may be some cells still around. I started in 72 and they were still around.

[ramen]

15. I'm 40 (elder milennial) and agree. Gen Z has no use for or experience with forums like this,

for one thing, so this type of site structure is almost guaranteed to miss them as a demographic. I started reading here twenty years ago. However, the internet was a very different place back then, as I'm pretty sure nearly 100% of this site recalls, which is itself a clear aign of the problem.

As for solutions.. you got me. Integrating DU with the apps that young people use is a good start. I know we have an instagram page but am not sure how it is used. Tiktok, like it or not, is where a lot of people in their 20s and 30s are living now. I'm not personally on social media but am the minority that way in my generation. People in their teens and twenties are almost universally social media users.

[GenThePerservering]

17. I'm on Insta and Reddit

but one thing a forum structure like this has is better link structure. What I think may be off putting is that the entire 'feel' of the forum is so outdated, and is difficult to manage on mobile. I haven't seen the new structure here, but the forum badly needs one so looking forward to seeing it.

BTW, I'm 70 and haven't got one foot in the grave quite yet. People are generally younger than they think they are.

[Tree Lady]

31. Lol I am 67 and don't consider myself old yet :)

I came when I was 48 here, like you said internet has changed a lot since then.

I am on reddit also but not for politics other things.

My kids in 40's are not into forums. Nor my grandkids in 20's. Besides work and family or friends more into streaming and gaming. Not into politics. They would like me to stop, say that's why I am too serious.

[GenThePerservering]

35. I have a lot of Z nieces and nephews

and they'll spend time on forums related to specific interests, and oftentimes a subreddit will be what they're looking for, so it's not a 'community' so much as a specific topic. For instance, I work out at Orangetheory Fitness, and there's a subreddit devoted to OTF - the subreddit mirrors the OTF community, which is mostly young, and the posters there are mostly young, but it's a very specific topic, they don't really hang out there or anything.

I'll admit, I wasn't into politics until I was older.

[electric_blue68]

37. I don't have any trouble using this forum on my phone... IF that's what you're saying

[Tetrachloride]

18. Some vital sections are sparsely attended

Environmental issues
other sciences
flyover states
foreign countries

ethnocentrism is a curse

[GenThePerservering]

19. Splitting general boards into small subs

can create problems because it's easy to forget that they're there. I've seen more than a few forums do this and the smaller boards usually get forgotten, even if the issues do not, as people continue to post on the main boards.

[elocs]

20. Well, I'm an old fart officially (71, but I don't look it or act it).

Certainly a Boomer, a child of the 60s, but never a member of the SDS or the Weathermen
(I still don't know or care who the Weatherman are or were). Yes, DU tends to be an echo chamber. But then I'm not a DUer or feel any obligation to be, I'm just here to post. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[demmiblue]

21. DU is not a very welcoming place for younger folks, imo.

I don't think it will ever change.

[Celerity]

30. +10000000000000000

[GenThePerservering]

36. Or sometimes people with younger viewpoints

I've often felt like my peers are more like my parents.

[vercetti2021]

22. I'm 33

So its not completely just older democrats!

[Ptah]

23. If you want to influence youngins. you should go where they are.

[UTUSN]

24. I'm 76. Our gen disdained elders "over 30". Ancient Greeks said their

young'uns showed no respect. Everybody has to learn the same old lessons on their own - meaning there will always be a new HITLER to be seduced by.

Over and over. "Eternal recurrence" said NIETSCHE, but somebody is sure to correct me he was talking about something else and more profound.

[betsuni]

32. I always think of ancient Greeks complaining about the youngs.

The youngs complaining about the olds. I don't think the generations in the U.S. are that different from each other.

[UTUSN]

33. Thank you.

[KentuckyWoman]

25. 68 is not old.

Also, I don't know if you were around for the Hillary vs Bernie wars, but I can say we can mix it up pretty good when needed.

[yardwork]

26. Good points. My kids are millennials and they think Democrats are too wimpy.

[malaise]

27. Important OP

Renewal and succession planning are the keys to continuity
Rec

[Dave in VA]

28. Circle of Life comes to mind

I'll be 71 in a few weeks. Born in 1952. Cut my political teeth on Bobby Kennedy's '68 campaign. Younger generations have to make their voices heard (which I think many of them are.) It's a continuation of Franklins admonition, "it's a democracy if you can keep it." I don't know what the answers are to your question, but don't stop questioning.

[SalviaBlue]

29. It's not a problem.

This is an “echo chamber” by design. The DU Core Principles state:

“Members are not expected to hold across-the-board progressive opinions on every single issue, but we do expect members to be generally progressive and to support Democrats at election time -- remember that and respect it when posting. Harsh, divisive, partisan attacks against Democrats or progressive values (from the right or the left) are not welcome here.”

I have full confidence that younger people can find the appropriate venues to learn about the past, present and future.

This is a niche that works well for some but not all.

[madinmaryland]

34. Oh, FFS, we may be older (62) , but we are in tune

With the younger generations and are able to learn from them.

[AKwannabe]

38. New member princessmorgan introduced self

Today in the lounge. In case you want to read.

Says is a college student.
Fyi