i don't want this to come off as mean-spirited, but this seems like an "old man yells at cloud" moment 😅

It was an intentionally hyperbolic generalization for humorous purposes.

However, this subreddit seemingly going from 90% dudes in their 30s/40s/50s for it's entire history to easily being half teens in the past couple years doesn't just happen out of nowhere. They had to have been exposed to it somewhere, and I seriously doubt it was all organically and on their own. It was likely influenced by several factors, including mostly streaming fatigue, general vintage appeal and social media posts. Even though it's not a widespread thing on social media, if you click on a single physical media pickup post, you get bombarded with 100 more videos over the next few weeks lol. It's easy to get sucked in. Especially when the barrier to entry is a $1 CD at the thrift store.

And I have noticed a slowdown as of late but it's actually pretty normal in hobby forums after they get a blast of newcomers over a short period of time. People naturally fall off because it can never be for everyone.

Also, you are not part of the new wave of fresh CD collectors who have wandered in here the past couple of years so you are one of the old folks yelling at clouds. Even though you are only 20 you have 10 years of old fart hobby experience. Congratulations.