I used to co-moderate a small subreddit with a very nice lady in her 50s. She gave up on Reddit because she got sick of all the missed opportunities. The basic facts of life that, to her, were self-evident, were called into question every day... and in order to add anything to the conversation, she'd have to go "okay, I'm 50, I've been on the planet two or three times as long as you, and I've learned a few things" and then put forth her notions for defense, not for edification.

Not to say "respect your elders" but I find that if you are open and interested and accept what someone who's been around longer than you has to say, you'll get a perspective you likely haven't considered. And to say that one of the primary hindrances to Internet communication is that in person, we know whether we're talking to a kid or a grandmother. On the Internet, we have to assume we're talking to a grandmother that acts like a kid or a kid that acts like a grandmother or a grandmother pretending to be a kid or a room full of preschoolers that know how to type. it's a hindrance to legitimate information transfer.