I can now select my birth year as its an option now and wasnt before but when i click ok it says im not allowed to be a member unless im 23.... is this true?! Im 18 so needing the 1988 birthyear....
joellem88, Oct 25, 2006 @ 05:07

Just read the home page - the minimum age is 23! how come iv seen other members who are younger than 23?!
joellem88, Oct 25, 2006 @ 05:56

the community is for expat in Geneva and I guess that when u look at by different age groups/demographic groups the 'youngest' u usually find in Geneva are yong professional/Univ Students (typically doing a master) starting usually at 23, and it makes perfect sense to start 'targeting' that audience. younger students/interns/yonger ppl no matter what the profession are for sure welcome to the community, in the end is a matter of meeting friendly ppl, but they might tend to stay in Geneva for less, and have their own groups already (Interns networks etc) ...

All this long corporate-kind of speech to say .. that it doesn't really matter. 23+ is just a 'target' concept :)

Vale



Hoiling, Oct 25, 2006 @ 12:04

Hello All

The 23 and up limit is real, and we think it will help make the GoL community even better.

Most of our current and potential members are 23 y/o and older professionals, and the the 23 and over limit is meant to ensure that it remains that way.

Current members who are younger than 23 will not be kicked out or blocked, but new members joining have to be 23 or older.

Comments welcome.

O
SiteAdmin Oded, Oct 25, 2006 @ 14:40

.. I guess is potentially a bit of a limitation ... and not even such a great one. I understand the need to select and have a target group but .. not letting ppl younger then 23 signing up and joining the community .. well .. i am just not sure it's the right thing.
I know that it works in the majority of the cases, but just to take a persona example, when I came to geneva to work for the first time and joined sindy .. i was 21, turned 22 3 months after I arrived. If Gol would have been online and active .. I'd have missed it for 1 whole year! ... and ... well .. I guess I'd have done what I did at the time to join sindy events, just say that I was older then I really was.
And if this rule would have been in place last year Sherri (I think she was 22 last year) wouldn't be the organizer of the NMD .. and so forth ...

I am stil thinking about and alternative and I am not inviting ppl to cheat on their age, just making a point ...
Hoiling, Oct 25, 2006 @ 15:47

My two cents: I like the idea that GoL is intended for an adult student and/or professional audience. However, like Hoiling, I got my first big corporate job was at 21 and if I had been living in Geneva, I too would've been completely cut off. Also like Hoiling, I consider(ed) myself more mature at that age--given an international professional track. I've met many amazing young GoLers (23ish actually). Maybe it's because I'm American that the ages 18 and 21 jump to my mind, but I think, in general the world over, most people are considered "adult" by at least 21. I think it's also important to remember that people in their early 20s seeking an active dating, gaming, partying, whatever...community among very young adults will not stay on GoL anyway. So, that's my two cents. In the end, I'll support what best supports the community needs.
salgal, Oct 26, 2006 @ 00:34

I think the young people of today are generally underestimated... for me iv left my country and moved to a completely new one for a year at the age of 18 which is quite a big step! Im jus looking to meet some other friendly people and not here just for the parties etc. i have a full time job and im looking for some friends as in my job you dont meet anyone! I know there arent that many young people new to geneva but those of us who are need the friends and support that the over 23s get... if not more so! this is my first time living out of my own house, let alone out of my own country! give us a chance! :-)
joellem88, Oct 26, 2006 @ 01:30

...and we want to make the community as relevant as possible for folks of that age.

When we talked to active members (who are in those ages), the majority of them prefered a community with folks their age. It was clear GoL has to be for 18 and over, and the question was whether to leave it at 18, or go for 21,23, or other ages.

We decided to go for 23. We're now collecting more feedback from many members about this, and will keep you updated...
Nir Ofek, Oct 26, 2006 @ 02:17

Hi,

I managed to update my profile, but only after two attempts. I had to remove my phone-number for it to work. It also made my firefox browser crash.
juancho, Oct 26, 2006 @ 14:21

Well, Nir says that the biggest group is between 25-35 and that therefore the minimum age has been put at 23. This is two years from 25, so following the same logic then the maximum age should be two years from 35 - namely 37 - right?

Or perhaps completely wrong, but why impose an age limit downwards and none upwards - if you want to have a selected group of people, to impose an age discrimination for those that have not yet turned 23, why stop there and not impose the same kind of discrimination/restriction to those over 35?

What will be the next thing? That perhaps because most of the members are Anglo-Saxons, then only Anglo-Saxons and countries closely related will be allowed? Or because the majority are singles, then only singles or perhaps people in couple, but not married people....

Minimum of 18 seems normal for obvious reasons - at least when it comes to organizing parties etc - but any other age limit is out of place especially in a friendly spirited community that GOL is supposed to represent. Friends are friends and it should not matter their age! And as has already been mentioned - would you have preferred if Sherri had not been able to join? How about all those hundreds of members who have become more active through the NMD's?

My 2 cents in short - end the discrimination!

LNA__, Oct 26, 2006 @ 17:28

I understand that lots of ppl like to mingle with ppl their age .. but i guess the clustering will happen naturally anyway, instead then forcing it. In the end if ppl really don't want to be arond youngster they already organize over 40 dinner etc .. so they could do a 30something event and I bet none of the youngster will show up :) .. otherwise I will start complaining on why being myself a 25yo girl i get chatted up (online) by GOL members over 40 (or nearly 40) men that sometimes try to hit on any girls ...
And just to be really provocative .. Nir didn't realize how old I was for about 3 years (before GOL) .. how can u know if ppl are really 23??? Checking IDs??

Vale - 18 is the age limit, 21 in the countries where that is the legal drinking age. Then we can organize whatever other extra sindy/other party age 25+ whenever is needed :)
Hoiling, Oct 26, 2006 @ 19:14

Oh damn! ...I thought that I had found a quiet sanctuary where I could 'grow' and catch up on everything that I've never done before... looks like I'm over the hill now & past it!... ;-)
JulianT, Oct 26, 2006 @ 19:39

Don't want to bother you with that but I can't edit the "About Myself" text box, I made a typo in there and I cannot insert/delete characters, I can't even move the cursor.
Cheers
Patrick
peembee, Oct 29, 2006 @ 02:19

Found out that I got problem with Firefox. I tried on Internet Explorer on another machine and it works fine.
Why this ?
Patrick
peembee, Oct 29, 2006 @ 12:15

The answer is that members told us that they don?t mind being with older members, but they do mind more being with ages that they perceive as too young.

What think?

Nir Ofek, Oct 30, 2006 @ 11:22

It would seem when reading through the postings at this link that most members feel that excluding young members is wrong.....

So my question is who the members are that you have asked about these age constraints and who do not like meeting younger people? I know I have never been asked for example.... and when talking with some other GOL members who also happens to be friends of every age (even over 40....) they thought the idea of excluding those under 23 was ridiculous....

If people do not want to meet people of other ages then they can put up postings for over 35, over 45 or whatever age limitations they have (which often seems to happen, though you never see anyone putting up a posting for those under 35 or under 30... even if the target and majority group are those of 25-35... probably because they would feel bad discriminating against those that are older, and probably also because the do not mind spending time with people of other ages... however discrimination does not only exisit against those that are older but also against those that are younger!)

My 2 cents again are that you should not exclude anyone from the community if you want it to stay a friendly and open community where everyone feels welcome and relaxes. Take away your postings about the 25-35 target group as well perhaps... But at least do not discriminate against those that are younger, there are already so many places that do - and remember, those that are 21 or 22 or so today and are not accepted, are those that would be 23 in a year or two, but perhaps by then they will not be interested to join anymore....

Minimum age of 18 ok - everything else is a discrimination and very unfriendly.
helena
LNA__, Oct 30, 2006 @ 12:29

to understand what a large number of GoLers want, we often use online surverys. We did one 2 months ago asking the age question, and of 132 members who took the survey the vast majory preffered an age limit of 23.

On a principle point, to me, limiting the age (whether it's to 18 or to 21 or to 23) is not being 'unfriendly', it's simply stating who the community is for. It's not for everyone, and we have to recognize that...

Nir Ofek, Oct 30, 2006 @ 21:05

because i don't really see ANY benefit of it.

surely, GOL is more 'targeted' at the 25-35 (and older) but if some younger people share the same interests and want to come to the same activities etc. - why not? does it somehow limit the value for other members? i don't think so!
in the opposite, some of the nicest and most active members of GOL wouldn't have been able to join...and i would have met a few friends less :-((
like some of the others here, i am convinced that just posting the 'right' activitities will be totally enough...

at the end one practical point: you can't even control the age properly. if i was 19 and really wanted to join GOL (e.g. because i heard from some older friends that it is great ;-) ), i would simply register as a 23year old, no?
Quijote, Oct 30, 2006 @ 23:06

When I became a member, I could select 1987 as my birth year... But I had to change something in my profile and in order to do that, I also had to change my age to 23... You say that people under the age of 23 will not be blocked or kick out, but now we can't edit our profiles???
DkXAuPair, Dec 13, 2006 @ 13:07