I have no idea what people mean by things like “②” and “④,” and I wish the respondents would stop using coded messages that only insiders can understand. What are they talking about?

At the very least, if posting required users to select their gender, age, and whether they’re a member, I think the seriousness of the posts would naturally increase as users got older, for both men and women. And if something was truly serious, they’d obviously provide important details like their gender and age. That said, I also feel it would be a waste to put so much effort into something like this. > Questions are hidden by default. > Respondents can’t hide questions, but they can make them visible. > That alone is functional enough, though. In the end, has this new initiative simply been abandoned?

> I think it might be better to make posting a little more cumbersome. For example: “Enter the 15th character from Kazu’s answer to Question 15196.” That might be just cumbersome enough. But then serious questions might stop coming in too, so maybe it would be better if AI could filter out low-effort questions… Although if questions started out hidden and were displayed later, humans could make that judgment instead of AI. Questions would be hidden initially. Responders couldn’t hide questions, but they could make them visible. That alone would be enough to make it work, though. (If you don’t answer, you don’t make it visible; once you answer, you display it.)

③, I’d say. This is the “severity scale” devised by Mac: ＝＝＝＝＝ ① Provoking people because they want the respondents’ attention ② No ill intent—they’re just bored and want to chat ③ They can’t be bothered to look it up themselves or contact the branch, so they want a quick answer ④ A simple, genuine question ⑤ They’re seriously struggling and genuinely looking for help (The severity increases from ① to ⑤.) ＝＝＝＝＝ It’s not some obscure thing that only insiders would understand. If you’re reading the answers closely enough to be bothered by just a few words in one of them, I’d think you should know about the severity scale. Personally, I’d like to add ⓪: “Not a question at all.” Since posting seems to be easier than reading through questions and answers from a little while ago, maybe posting should be made a bit more of a hassle—like those “I’m not a robot” tests where you have to select all the squares containing buses.

This is #3, but closer to #1. P.S. > Kazu “I’m not asking a question or anything” would fall under either #1 or #2, I think. The difference between #1 and #2 is whether you sense malicious intent. That’s why the opposite of “serious” on the severity scale—“→ serious”—is “malice ←.” I’m still not entirely sure about that myself, but it seems to work pretty well. Is “malice” really the antonym of “serious,” though? Psychologically speaking.