Actually, not really. At least not all the time. I agree that it's likely a redundant post to most of us, but possibly not to Op. There's not really a defined template for social/scientific experiments. If you were to delve deeper into the originator/purpose of said experiment, regulated criteria might exist. I wouldn't sweat it, some ppl enjoy these posts.

You're giving him way too much credit

No. I might have been confusing in my post. If I was, my bad. I meant that when you delve into any social experiment, there may be criteria created by the regulating party or experiment creator, but it really isn't necessary, for the most part. All you need is some basic things really. Does it pertain to science? Is it created to learn something? "Technically" it can be argued that Op's post serves that purpose. How will a group respond to my post? What he wants to learn: check. Using social reactions = scientific: check. It's silly. If I poke my eye to see if it will hurt, it can be argued as a scientific experiment, albeit one that's on the more clinical side.