technical question

This is interesting. The case of the missing 30+ year olds.

Thanks for the good welcome and encouragement though, both of you!

Oh! That´ll be really helpfull, i´m new here too but i guess it´s normal find more young people (teenagers) interesting in this kind of exchange, or just they have more free time. But there are really good people so i'm still looking too, so encourage!

Well, I'm rather a 40+ than a 30+, however, rather feel like a 30+.

Guess, you are right Nelidian. When I was 13, there only was the option of having a penpalship by snail mail. As luck would have it, it seems that I keyed-in the read searching parameters in a search machine that lead me to that webside.. 🙂

I think teenagers are the people who seek out pen pals the most. However, those teenagers do grow up and eventually join the 30+ or 40+ groups. So, unless they lose interest (but how could you!), they simply are around here and hiding!

I'm 31 and on this site, maybe at the limits but over 30 xD

Agree with you guys. I also remember those school days when i discovered snail mail. But thinking of that, how many people still join in that, i mean, we all grew up but just a few still like this, lets say that maybe out of every 30 students who grew only about 3 still interested in this kind of exchange, and maybe of those 3 only 1 have heard of penpalgate ... that reduces the possibilities, and that mathematics is not mine. By this i mean that we are fortunate to find someone who shares our taste and who enters within our "parameters" either 30+, 40+, etc ...
I at least feel more relieved to see that i'm not the only one.

Anyway, i´m near of 30+ but not yet, but 20+ feels a bit too young... the eternal dilemma of the age.

Well, my experience of different websites (3 to be precise) is that the ages are more balanced. So i met plenty of 30+ year olds there. That's why i was surprised they weren't as prominent on this website. But the mechanics of it (not being able to seek out people by age) make it just more mysterious. Maybe they are here, they are just hiding!
Who knows!

Agree with you. Guess less people are interested in this kind of exchange for on the one hand there are so many options such as what's app, instagram etc for contacting people and on the other hand people seem to be more impatient nowadays. Whaat is more you don't need to use complete phrases as it is with snail mail. 🙂

My mom is still a supporter of snail mail. She is 67, though... She is corresponding with several ladies all over the world. It is always nice when Mom is sharing with me the different cultures she has amongst her penpals....

Botanica, keep me fingers crosed for you that you are uncovering the hidden 30 + guys.

Any idea how to "filter out" people of certain age?

The search engine already looks for people around your age, it actually tries to find a balance between similar age and last seen online. Even though as you have noticed most members are young, it doesn't mean you can't find people around age. My suggestion is to try and broaden your search criteria (eg. search by country or continent instead of a city) to increases your chances

Grisu, i have been writing letters for over 2 decades, and just like your mom, i found interesting people all around. 🙂 Those people are there- the ones who are patient and write full sentences.

Etienne- thank you for this piece of information. I didn't think the search engine actually searched out people my age, since it keeps suggesting 17 year olds... It's interesting to know that it's supposed to show me more 30 -40 year olds.

I don't seek out certain countries and continents, because i truly don't care where potential friends are. But, i will try out your advice. 🙂

Really, a good idea !!!!!

Really, a good idea !!!!!

I do wonder- do people in charge take suggestions for changes? how likely is it that someone will read this and make the changes or at least discusses the reason why it can't happen? Just curious.

I do wonder- do people in charge take suggestions for changes? how likely is it that someone will read this and make the changes or at least discusses the reason why it can't happen? Just curious.

I'm in charge of the community, however I'm just a volunteer so I can hardly spend more than a few hours a week during my spare time 🙂.
By the way I forgot to mention: keep your sorting to "relevance" when searching for other members, that's when age similarity kicks in.

I'm in charge of the community, however I'm just a volunteer so I can hardly spend more than a few hours a week during my spare time 🙂.

So, do you have the power to add "Age" as one of the filters? And if so, how can we convince you?

So, do you have the power to add "Age" as one of the filters? And if so, how can we convince you?

Ha, yes age can technically be added, it just would just take a little work.
Have you tried a blank or country search, sorted by relevance? If so, did you notice any improvement? If not, feel free to let me know what your exact search you did and I'll take a look.

Have you tried a blank or country search, sorted by relevance?

So if i pick relevance and add language spoken (english) i get a very long list of people. First 20 or so are about 30, the next 20 or so are young (15- to 22). So it's a bit weird, it's almost like there is a limited number of 30-years old. I assumed that there were a lot of members here, so the number of each age group should be bigger than the few that pop up. But maybe it's also based on who is logged in/online? Either way it's interesting.

I've decided too that i don't really need to search for them and instead i will let the right people find me. 🙂

So if i pick relevance and add language spoken (english) i get a very long list of people. First 20 or so are about 30, the next 20 or so are young (15- to 22). So it's a bit weird, it's almost like there is a limited number of 30-years old. I assumed that there were a lot of members here, so the number of each age group should be bigger than the few that pop up. But maybe it's also based on who is logged in/online? Either way it's interesting.

Thanks for your feedback. My first guess would be that other members that are 30+ haven't logged in in a while therefore have been pushed down the list. I can think of a couple of ways the algorithm could be improved. That said, most people on here speak English and many don't necessarily bother filling out their profile completely, so not requiring "English" as a spoken language should yield even more results.

not requiring "English" as a spoken language should yield even more results.

Yes, but if i find 30-something year olds who don't speak English, that clearly doesn't help in my search. 🙂

But don't worry. I have decided that they can find me instead of me finding them.
So, come and find me- right people- here i am! 😛