# Terminal question bait Part of [The AI Tells Index](https://feedsquad.com/ai-tells). A tell signals low effort. It does not identify an author. Skilled writers produce every shape listed here, some of them daily, and automated detectors misread those writers for it at rates measured above 60 percent on non-native English prose. Nothing in this index proves that a machine wrote anything. Read an entry as one piece of evidence to weigh against the false-positive notes printed beside it. ## Facts - Id: terminal-question-bait - Category: Platform-specific (platform) - Subcategory: closer - Also known as: Agree?, Thoughts?, Or am I the only one?, Is it just me? - Status: Contested. Credible people dispute that this signals anything at all. - Severity: medium - Evidence grade: primary-doc (platform policy, vendor documentation, or a model card) - Languages: en - Added: 2026-08-15 - Updated: 2026-08-15 - Page: https://feedsquad.com/ai-tells/terminal-question-bait ## Description A closing question built for comment volume rather than for an answer. The one-word variants ask for assent. The solidarity variants ask a reader to confirm a grievance the post already stated. Both were folded into this one entry because they are the same closer with a different pronoun, and splitting them would have shipped two rules that fire on the same line. ## Why it reads as machine-written The shape is what a post reaches for when it has run out of material. An assistant asked to end a post with engagement produces it because the request has one obvious answer. A writer who actually wants input usually asks something narrower, because a wide question returns nothing usable. ## Detection Type: deterministic (a regular expression, run as written) Scope: sentence ECMAScript regular expression. The build validator compiles it and tests it against this entry's own specimens. ```regex (?:^|[.!?…]["')’”]?[ \t]+)(?:agree\?|thoughts\?|your thoughts\?|am i wrong\?|(?:or )?am i the only one(?: who [^?\n]{1,50})?\?|is it just me(?:,| or)?(?: [^?\n]{1,50})?\?|who(?:'|’)?s with me\?)[ \t]*$ ``` Flags: im ## Examples Constructed specimens. Written for this index. Never quoted from anyone's posts. ### Specimen 1 Before, exhibiting the tell: > Most teams treat onboarding as a checklist and then wonder why activation is flat. Fix the first week and everything downstream gets easier. Thoughts? After, repaired: > Most teams treat onboarding as a checklist and then wonder why activation is flat. We cut our first week from eleven steps to four in February and week-two activation moved from 22 to 34 percent. If your first week is longer than four steps, I would like to hear what the extra ones are doing. Note: The repair still invites a reply, and the invitation is narrow enough to answer. Figures in this repair are invented for the specimen. ## False positives Who legitimately writes this way. Writers who genuinely want input end on a question, and community managers are trained to. Teachers close with one on purpose. LinkedIn's own policy language reaches explicit reaction requests, not soft questions, so this entry documents a shape the platform never named. The reviewer check is whether the post would still stand with the question deleted: if the body already made a claim worth arguing with, the closer is decoration rather than the point. ## Model attribution No family attribution. The closer is a property of engagement-shaped writing and appears whenever a prompt asks for a post that drives comments, regardless of which assistant answers. ## Platform notes - linkedin: The May 2022 feed post says LinkedIn will not promote posts that expressly ask or encourage the community to engage via likes or reactions when the intent is boosting reach. That is narrower than a closing question and this entry does not claim otherwise. - threads: Adam Mosseri posted in October 2024 that engagement bait on Threads had increased and that the team was working to get it under control. He did not define the term or name any specific closer. ## Sources 1. LinkedIn, keeping your feed relevant and productive https://www.linkedin.com/blog/member/product/keeping-your-feed-relevant-and-productive (tier: primary-doc; accessed 2026-08-14) 2. Mosseri on Threads, engagement bait https://www.threads.com/@mosseri/post/DA01Sd8vtm6 (tier: primary-doc; accessed 2026-08-14) ## Status history Ids are permanent. A retired tell keeps its id and its page. - 2026-08-15, Contested: LinkedIn names posts that expressly ask the community to engage via likes or reactions, and Mosseri acknowledged rising engagement bait on Threads. Neither names a soft closing question, so the entry ships contested: platforms enforce the explicit ask, and this is the softer cousin that no policy reaches. ## License CC BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Attribution: The AI Tells Index, feedsquad.com/ai-tells Reuse the data, including commercially. Keep the attribution line. --- Dataset version 1.0.0. Schema version 1. Part of [FeedSquad](https://feedsquad.com). Built by [Herman Foundry](https://hermanfoundry.com) from Levi, Finnish Lapland.