Better "Format your code" canned replies?

[Sujan (Jan P.)]

@HAWK

I think your approach is along the right lines, but if you want to persuade people to change their behaviour you have to appeal to their values. Right now your messaging sounds like changes that YOU want them to make. I’d emphasise what the change will do for them. Maybe something like:

Hi there,

Thanks for your recent post.

We’ve discovered that people are much more likely to get useful (and quick) responses if they format their code correctly. I’d suggest using the </> button above the input field to format your code (select the text first, then click the button). That makes it easier for people to read and respond.

Thanks.

It’s actually ME that wants them to invest a few seconds to at least make their f**ing code readable - but that’s my mood speaking after triaging through 20 of these unformatted posts.

Of course you are right - appealing to their actual goal makes total sense.

Posting this more “personal” message (it just feels that way…) somehow seems strange to me. There is a natural “revulsion” happening that is hard to explain. I think it somehow feels “fake” a la “Thanks for contacting us. We value you as our customer. Please wait 45 minutes until we drop the line” hotlines. Understandable?
But of course each individual poster only gets it once (or twice for repeat “offenders”) and so it doesn’t sound as cheesy to them as it does to me posting it the 23rd time.

You left out some bits of my text (```, check preview, radable, syntax highlighting). Was this a conscious decision or just because it only should be an example?