Of course it was.
They were wrong. How are they going to know they are wrong if no one tells them?
what was i supposed to do, let people just be wrong online?
could be worse, you could let them merge in front of you in traffic.
Absolutely. There’s way too many blithering idiots online. We made the web way too accessible to them back in the ‘90’s.
And if idiots don’t get challenged, you run the risk of them thinking they’re actually right. And that’s very, very dangerous.
I will admit the only reason I attempt to verbally correct them is because I don’t have access to a Reaper drone to shove a Flying Ginsu missile up their ass.
yeah, your such a big tough strong guy who is so smart.
so strong that you fantasizing about murdering people who upset you by saying things you don’t like… so brave. so smart. so strong.
It’s a hobby.
There’s a weird dynamic to arguing online, particularly when it comes to political topics. Most of the time, you won’t convince your counterpart. Maybe some point sticks with them later and you’ll never know, but either way they’re not really the target of the arguments. It’s the (potential) audience that the argument is supposed to be for: People less emotionally invested in the conflict may take away something useful from the arguments, people on the fence about an issue might come around to your point, and people sharing your opinion will see that they’re not alone and feel affirmed.
Essentially, it’s a performance on an public stage for the sake of discourse. Phrased strongly, you don’t want “the other side” to dominate the public opinion, so you engage them. In the process, you may hone your own arguments, or you may find them wanting, perhaps even see them start to crack.
I used to enjoy it a while back, now not so much. As long as people understand this is not how you change the world, you are doing this for yourself.
i think that’s true in large social media spaces, but not so much in smaller focused forums.
but since the latter doesn’t really exist anymore, it is kind of irrelevant.
People mostly respond to your presentation and how it makes them feel, not the content of what you are saying. Hence why most people objecting to you won’t even object to what you say, they will object to their interpretation of what you said and how it made them feel.
yes.
1000% worth it.
If you don’t challenge things, you let bullshit flourish and that influences societal views.
Pro tip: Never open your inbox.
Not as powerful as you but I’m working on it
That’s a strong magic right there.
Other people in this thread have already said it better than I could but in brief: Yes
Was it worth it?
Well, we’re clearly sitting on a picturesque beach on the Spanish Med, so… yeah? Sure, getting SWATted was no fun, and the bogus restraining orders were a real hassle, but ever since we had no choice but to leave the US things got a lot better.
Now, how about some sunscreen babe? You’re gonna burn like that.
Screw feelings. The truth is worth discovering.
tell that to everyone who thinks their feelings are the only truth there is.
arguing, no. discussing, sure
That’s the key to human interaction in general online or offline. Don’t argue with people, communicate with them.
it doesn’t matter if you do that, if they don’t.
this is like the classic ‘just tell them’ reply to relationship issues… what people forget is that people don’t listen. and if you tell them, they don’t listen, well then you’re going no where. it also assumes people aren’t trying to win, when often, they are. some folks regard communication, understanding, and compromise, as themselves losing.
it requires two parties standing on the same ground and working from the same place, which is rare to find.
I want her feet
If I win it’s worth it
Before I realized there was no point 99% of the time, I didn’t think it was a waste of time. Now if I’m feeling generous I think, at least on a platform like Lemmy, best you can hope is like 10% of the time you plant a seed for the person with a wrong idea or opinion that will eventually lead them to a better understanding. I certainly know that’s happened to me before when I was wrong. So often, people make the online exchange feel awful though. There’s a prominent attitude in many extremist/wrong viewpoints that not only are they right, everyone who thinks differently is an evil asshole.
It’s not just for the person you reply to, but also for anyone else who may come across this thread. That’s how I see it anyway.
Right, that’s also how I think of it
