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Politically-engaged Redditors tend to be more toxic -- even in non-political subreddits
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this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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I'm political as fuck.¹ While I try not to be toxic, I will sometimes call out aberrant opinions or counterfactual assumptions when I see them and that can lead to toxic exchanges.
So, yeah, I think the virtue of having strong opinions about things controversial is going to inspire heated exchanges more frequently.
¹ Sex in the US is very political right now.
But why though? You're not going to change anybody mind online.
Leaving harmful public opinions unchallenged presents the illusion of widespread agreement.
You're also arguing for the audience, not necessarily the person you're arguing with.
How?
Maybe you don’t change them, but they shouldn’t get a free pass and be the only voice present.
Because people other than the two arguing read that and learn things. If someone states factually wrong or hurtful information about, say, trans people, I would rather they be corrected than someone think that trans people are anything other than human beings being human beings from that prior comment.
OK this to me is the perfect example. You say trans people are human. (a sentiment which i agree with BTW). How has you arguing with someone online changed ANY off the current anti trans bills out there?
Instead of arguing online and accomplishing nothing maybe instead you should be doing real work in the real work to stop that from happening.
But no, people will bitch and complain online, and then throw there hands up in the air and say "well at least I tried." when nothing changes.
So, are you suggesting that people aren't allowed to complain about things, are you suggesting that complaining about things cannot be done in tandom with works that better the lives of trans, or are you suggesting that people that actually want trans people to have better lives don't get to complain about things? Because every one of those implications are dumb as shit, especially if you have any historical knowledge of civil rights movements.
No, instead you've taken a stance historically used to oppress civil rights movements, using a false dilemma to essentially proport that one cannot talk about the issue because that is wasting time not doing some unknown thing about it.
And by virtue of your own post, why are you arguing with people about people arguing instead of helping trans people get the rights they deserve?
why are you arguing with people about people arguing instead of helping trans people get the rights they deserve?
I'm not arguing. I'm responding.
Definitionally, you argued.
You never changed your mind because of something you read online?
I've never had someone who is arguing with me on the internet change my mind.
Have any of your views changed as you learned new things?
Of course, but some keyboard warrior shouting at me in the comments never has.
My experience has been that people on the Internet don't try to teach you new things. They just attack your person, make unsubstantiated claims, or make overly broad references like "go read a book." Even when you just ask questions without making any claims of your own, they will assume that you're implying some disagreement with them instead of taking the question at face value. It's extremely frustrating.
Yes. A lot of folk are unfamiliar with critical thinking processes, and are glad to adhere to positions that affirm their base prejudices. Especially when FOX News or OAN main a broadcast itinerary of affirming culture-war rhetoric. Curiously no one pretends FOX or OAN are trustworthy sources, even for uncontroversial news stories.
But that isn't everybody on the internet, and I think the dialog is improved by those willing to counter assertions contrary to facts, and generalizations based on stereotypes and hate rhetoric. We're not just arguing with a frightened bigot, but telling every marginalized soul reading they are seen, and they are valid.
And yes, it can be extremely frustrating given we only see resistance to the end of every exchange. We never see the moment of revelation from resistance to doubt from apathy to empathy. The human brain takes time to change its mind, to notice the leopard bites in nearby faces, to see how justifications are dangerous when applied to people they actually care about. We all have a mother in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Yes, I did not mean to give the impression that it is everybody on the internet. There has even been a couple of times after arguing for a while that people have come off the spell and literally said something like "I thought you were just a troll, I didn't understand you were asking the question genuinely". But these are exceptions, unfortunately. I wish good faith was the norm.
Open-minded people learn and change their opinion when presented with facts and discussions
The key words there are "open minded."
The person one responds to isn't always the audience for the response.
When people are toxic to dissenters online they don't think they're open minded people