I don’t argue or “debate” online. Most online back-and-forth feels pointless and often intentionally inflammatory or in bad faith. I read all the replies I receive, but I rarely respond.
Remember EVERYONE has a voice, everyone contains very dumb people.
Same as life: Respect yourself. Respect others. Respect property.
Every debate I tried to engage was poisoned by immature people trying to be cunning instead of bringing productive arguments.
That sounds like a constant pain.
I automatically assume anyone I type at is not a true representation of themselves.
We should all explore more, not stay stuck in a bubble of 6 or so megacorp websites that take most of the worlds traffic.
The internet is distributed, with billions of websites that are all unique.
Even if it’s difficult to find new websites to look at, then choose a different internet medium such as dark net browsers such as tor and i2p to explore the more privacy respecting web, or on the lighter side, go for geminispace or gopher browsers like Lagrange to explore the un-corporatised early internet style web.
It’s hard to explore when you don’t know where to look.
Debates go two ways. If you’re not willing to listen to the other person with at least some politeness, you’re not debating and it makes it hard to take you seriously.
- Be positive
- Don’t let anything negative get to you
- It’s not my duty to convince anyone. If they hold a stupid position, don’t try to debate
- when making conversation, bail once they start treating it as an argument they need to win
- OPs mom is fair game
I (try to) only interact with positivity.
If someone posts a thread along the lines of “Which album/movie/book/whatever do you hate, even though every one else loves it”, I’ll scroll on, despite my worst instincts wanting to dive in to see if people hate something I love. I know why people post like that; because engagement on negatvity is always higher. But I feel like every time I engage with content like that, it makes me a little more cynical. I’m done being cynical, the world around me has more than enough already.
If someone pops up in my replies being a dick, I’ll just mute, block or ignore them. Life’s too short to spend it trying to lower cortisol levels.
Basically, the internet is already negative enough, so I try not to add to it.
Assume everything you post is gonna be there forever.
Corollary: Don’t assume you’ll have access to your accounts forever.
Disconnect completely and detox regularly - preferably for several days or even weeks at a time. It can do wonders for general well-being.
Remember that 90% of what is said online is said by complete oddballs because nobody will talk to them in real life and they have all the time in the world to post on the Internet.
And the more extreme the view, the more sock puppets these oddballs will have to try to convince you that their fucked up view of the world is actually normal.
IRL I almost never, ever meet people who are obsessed with politics, or people who are extremists like Nazis or communists. Online, they’re all over the place and it is not remotely normal. Same goes for chronic pot heads who are vehemently anti-smoking cigarettes. You don’t meet that kind of bizarro-world health nuttery offline. Or people who think that people who have outdoor cats are pure evil and should be put in prison.
Extremism like this in general is not at all normal offline. But online it seems like it is. It is not.
I’m almost the exact opposite. I like arguing online. I think it’s because of me being gigantic IRL that people don’t honestly argue with me. Online, I’m just pixels on a screen and people will call me out on my bullshit.
Different strokes for different folk.
My one rule is to post pictures of Furryosa if she claws me that day.
Same, but I’m not gigantic and I also love to “argue” IRL. It’s easier IRL too (as a non gigantic guy, ofc 😅), because people can feel your good vibes and friendly disposition and will more comfortably engage even through disagreements.
Name checks out and I’m also immediately curious to ask about it 😆
Believing in God and yapping/arguing are big parts of my life. 🤷😅
Block any and all advertising at all times.
Never take off your pirate hat because you never know when you’ll need it again.
Goddamned right. There were several years when I’d let it go, because Netflix and the like were providing a good, fairly priced service. When they finally gave me the fuck you, I cancelled it on my 10th anniversary as a customer, along with every other streaming service. Took me a minute to get back in the swing, but the salty sea air is so nice again.
Assume someday someone will find your account or identity.
Support people who are trying, even if they’re not there yet. Only give criticism if it’s specifically being asked for. Admittedly I mostly apply this to individuals, if it’s some big group or company I’m less hesitant to be more harsh and critical though I still try to remain constructive and tactful
