Societal Resonance Quotient (SRQ)

SRQ considers possible harm, effects on third parties, fairness, long-term consequences, and systemic consequences. It resists treating the requester’s immediate objective as the only relevant outcome.

For example, automatically publishing a person’s alleged misconduct may create durable harm for that person and their community even if it serves a short-term moderation objective.

A broader impact assessment encourages a team to ask who is affected, whether the action is reversible, and what safeguards reduce avoidable harm. Material uncertainty should be visible rather than silently optimized away.

SRQ is not a predictive social model or a guarantee that downstream effects have been fully identified. EthosGate does not claim to forecast society-wide outcomes or substitute for community and subject-matter consultation.