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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25859
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

As you mention, this question is somewhat subjective which is why there won't be a hard number that somebody can provide and that will turn out to be the correct answer.

Moreover, writing itself can be considered subjective: You are providing the reader with a planned (to certain extent) experience. As a writer, you are the one who makes the decision regarding the impressions and the messages you want to leave your readers with.

With that in mind, if you are planning to leave it to your readers to hypothesize on an aspect of your story, you could try to envision what kind of discussions would spark in your fan communities and where they could start off. This way you can provide enough elements in order to increase the enjoyment of their community when the conversations take place.

A good example for setting up elements to spark conversations that have defined a work of fiction would be the ending of Inception.

A very good work of fiction that might provide you guidance on what you are trying to achieve is [Higurashi (When They Cry)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higurashi_When_They_Cry). This particular story takes place in a close-knit community with something "_off_" under the surface and an element of an entity haunting it. You can use it as a study on how much can be revealed to the audience and the questions that remain to be answered. If you are to watch the series as research material, be aware that it operates under a concept in which reality is "_reset_" on every arc (Every few episodes you will find yourself back to the beginning, as if you were watching "_Groundhog day: The series_").

After analyzing both of these examples you can see how preparation is really important for leaving readers with open questions, if that is part of the experience you are attempting to provide. Assuming this might be something you are interested in, you could make the fact that the community is not using modern technology to keep in touch as an element in your story, akin to a conspiracy that could tie-in things together.

On the other hand, if you don't perform enough planning you might risk the readers to feel that there were loose ends which have ruined their experience. This goes back to what you are trying to achieve, with your intentions with your own work.

Nevertheless, if you make the decision to reveal all at the end, that is fine, too. This, again, depends on the experience you would like to provide your readers. The study of the series above will also allow you to gauge how to balance how much you want to reveal (The series continues until all mysteries are revealed and then you can see how it fares once everything is revealed which changes the experience of the audience).

Finally, for another work of fiction that you could take a look on to see how elements that don't make sense (like a protagonist not having a cellphone) are tied in to the fabric of the story would be the first season of [Blood-C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-C). Beware, Blood-C is a horror story that can be very brutal.

Original score: 3