One-upmanship (maunto)
Overview
Maunto (one-upmanship, or "mounting") is the act of trying to show that you're superior to the other person in a conversation or other communication. It's Japanese internet slang that corresponds to the English "one-upmanship" (trying to go one better than someone). People also say maunto wo toru ("to take the mount") or mauntingu.
One of the motives behind one-upmanship is a lack of self-esteem. However, the sense of superiority it brings doesn't easily lead to higher self-esteem.
One-upmanship in a question box
One-upmanship in a question box happens in two directions: from the sender to the person answering, and from the person answering to the sender.
One-upmanship from senders shows up as bragging dressed up as a question. "I got into X University. Can you tell me how you study?" (bragging about passing an exam). "I have three boyfriends. What should I do?" (bragging about being popular). Some are framed as questions, but you can see they're really meant to show off the sender's situation.
One-upmanship from the person answering shows up as looking down on the sender in the answer. "You don't even know that?" "I wish you'd think a bit more on your own before asking." They use a gap in knowledge or experience to put the sender beneath them.
Dealing with one-upmanship
One way to deal with a one-upmanship question is to let the bragging part slide and answer the core of the question. Don't touch the "I got into X University" part, and just calmly explain how you study. Not reacting to the bragging helps weaken its effect.
Checking yourself as the person answering includes asking whether you're the one doing the one-upping. When you talk about your own experience in an answer, as in "Here's how it was for me," is it information that helps the sender, or is it you showing off your superiority? The line is blurry, but the question "Will this information help the sender?" works as a guide. Talking about yourself in a way that doesn't help is only a hair's breadth away from one-upmanship.