Literacy
Overview
Literacy originally means "the ability to read and write," but today it is used in a broader sense: "the ability to understand and use information in a particular field properly." It is broken down by field into information literacy, media literacy, digital literacy, financial literacy, and so on.
In the context of the internet, literacy is the combination of the ability to tell whether information is true, the judgment to protect your privacy, and the ability to share information appropriately. It also forms the foundation for using social media and question boxes safely.
The literacy a question box tests
A question box calls for literacy from both the sender and the person answering. A sender needs the ability to imagine "how would they feel if I sent this question?" and the judgment not to carelessly include personal information. The person answering needs the ability to work out "what is the intent of this question?" and the ability to respond calmly without getting emotional.
The literacy to tell malicious questions apart from questions that aren't is also important. There are cases where the text alone makes it hard to judge. "Is this prying, or pure curiosity?" "Is this baiting, or are they really in trouble?" Getting this judgment wrong can lead to hurting a well-meaning sender or feeding a troll.
How to build literacy
Literacy is hard to gain from knowledge alone. It takes building up experience of actually dealing with information, making judgments, and looking back on the results.
There are also things you can do on purpose. Make a habit of checking the primary source instead of taking information at face value, of pausing for a beat before acting on an emotional reaction, and of imagining how what you post will be received by others. Building up these small habits also helps lay the foundation for literacy.