The age of the average GameFAQs user, based on PotD age polls and calculated by Luster Soldier. Beginning with the 2019 age poll, the method of calculating average age and date of birth was revised. The following posts explain why the calculations were revised - Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4
Average Age[]
- December 20, 1999 - 18.13
- August 5, 2000 - 17.57
- September 30, 2001 - 18.12
- September 10, 2002 - 18.76
- September 22, 2003 - 19.11
- March 22, 2006 - 19.75
- April 18, 2007 - 20.24
- August 26, 2009 - 21.58
- March 29, 2010 - 22.05
- March 9, 2011 - 23.04
- March 4, 2012 - 23.63
- May 26, 2013 - 24.93
- April 12, 2014 - 25.97
- July 30, 2015 - 27.83
- November 6, 2016 - 28.96
- September 19, 2017 - 30.36
- August 15, 2019 - 32.55
- June 18, 2022 - 35.49
Average Date of Birth[]
| Age Poll Date | Average Date of Birth | |
|---|---|---|
| December 20, 1999 | October 31, 1981 | |
| August 5, 2000 | January 10, 1983 | |
| September 30, 2001 | August 18, 1983 | |
| September 10, 2002 | December 5, 1983 | |
| September 22, 2003 | August 12, 1984 | |
| March 22, 2006 | June 21, 1986 | |
| April 18, 2007 | January 21, 1987 | |
| August 26, 2009 | January 28, 1988 | |
| March 29, 2010 | March 9, 1988 | |
| March 9, 2011 | February 22, 1988 | |
| March 4, 2012 | July 15, 1988 | |
| May 26, 2013 | June 21, 1988 | |
| April 12, 2014 | April 22, 1988 | |
| July 30, 2015 | October 1, 1987 | |
| November 6, 2016 | November 20, 1987 | |
| September 19, 2017 | May 12, 1987 | |
| August 15, 2019 | January 25, 1987 | |
| June 18, 2022 | December 20, 1986 |
The idea to calculate the average Date of Birth for each age poll came from the user AxemRedRanger from a post in a Contest Stats and Discussion topics. However, he got the idea of finding the average Date of Birth for a gamefaqs age poll from a post Red sox 777 had made in the stats topic some time before then.
Average Date of Birth is an alternative way of examining the changes in the GameFAQs userbase over the its entire history. When comparing the average age and average Date of Birth together, there are some key things to note down. Despite the average age of GameFAQs users going up during the past several years, the average Date of Birth has remained fairly consistent since the start of 2009. This strongly suggests that GameFAQs failing to lure in younger users.
Allen has admitted that traffic to the site has been at its absolute highest in history, the problem is that most of these visitors are bypassing the homepage completely by visiting GameFAQs from a Google search result. This has caused a massive decline in the number of new users signing up for the site, plus a decline in vote totals. Most of the people who never even notice the polls on the site are also the same people who aren't signing up for a GameFAQs account. A lot of these "potential" users (if they signed up) are most likely younger users between the ages of 13 and 22. If Allen actually implemented serious changes that results in higher vote totals plus more users signing up for accounts, it would cause the average age to decrease, while the average age of birth would move forward.
As it stands right now, we're stuck with a very static userbase that has stayed almost identical to the same userbase from several years ago. Replenishing our userbase with younger users is strongly encouraged for the sole purpose of luring in more "potential" contributors to replace the older users who might have lost interest in contributing or do not have as much time to contribute to GameFAQs. It's more difficult for GameFAQs to provide FAQs/Walkthroughs on the latest games in a timely manner if we have a shrinking pool of contributors. GameFAQs is a site that relies heavily upon contributions to survive, so increasing the overall number of contributors means that GameFAQs will be able to provide FAQ/Walkthroughs on the latest games much faster.