Useful is the opposite of empty. Facts, figures, steps, a takeaway: a post worth reading ticks most of the list.
Useful to readersDrag across · ← →waiting for a post
Checklist: facts and figures (what you can know), steps and a takeaway (what you can do)Adding machine: each half's share typed in and added; PRINT sends the totalPrintout: the score out of 100, higher is more usefulUsefulness is the opposite of empty. The checklist asks what a reader would need: facts, with a source and a date; figures, with a number; steps, in order and with an example; a takeaway. The pen goes down the list and ticks what the post has. A useful post ticks every item and all but a few sub-items; a middling one misses an item or two; an empty one manages one item and one sub-item. The top half's share is typed into the adding machine, then the bottom half's is added. Only then is the big PRINT key pressed, and the printer prints the same total, large, on blue-bar paper, which is torn off for the next post. This is a counter-signal, a plain score out of 100: the higher it is, the more there is in the post for a reader, and the more it pulls a slop score down.