this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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That's a bad method especially on Lemmy which prides itself on friendliness.
If I know I'm right, and coming down hard on someone in an argument, I actively avoid acknowledging insults because I see it as a tactic to stall from losing an argument.
People will start ramping up insults before they lose in order to bait you into arguing about the insults instead of the facts that they are wrong about.
I mean, it can pride itself on friendliness, but it's not really a friendly place. People are toxic and dismissive, often ignoring any nuance in a discussion.
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I've seen a minor increase in people willing to reply and bring actual sauce to discussion. I've still never seen anyone willing to change their mind despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. Even when you have a username like my which goads people into ad hominems using fake historical earworms lol.
Respectfully, I don't think lemmy is as friendly as all that. It's a shit- ton better than Reddit though, (where i developed the method). That aside, there's also my belief that there aren't nearly as many astroturfers here (simply because of lemmys limited scope).
And if what you said is true about avoiding responding to insults, youre kind of a unicorn. Be proud. Most peoples egos are right there on their sleeves, and if youve been around the block you know (at least on that) I'm right.
People tie their egos to their beliefs. To attack their viewpoint is to attack them personally. People will get frustrated when you blow up an argument. People are easy.
Now id like to move discussion away from how I'm wrong and my methods bad, and towards other related ideas. Perhaps we might discuss ways to better my method instead of throwing it out (perfect being the enemy of good and all that)? I would also enjoy hearing methods (maybe you have some) of seperating astroturfers from posters.
Because they exist, and throwing up my hands is unacceptable
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A really good way I have found that doesn't turn the audience against you like barbecuing souls does is to not speak to whoever you're replying to at all. Openly say you're addressing the audience and speak of your opponent in the third person, the way you do when you are talking about someone else right in front of them. Or like, the way you'd show them a new game system you bought, or cookies you made, or something.
I did that before to an astroturfer on Reddit and the guy never responded back, and I got tons of sweet sweet Reddit karma.
Do you keep a list of people whom you've verified as human, perchance?
I like your idea. I would like to keep people on my side generally since if i think someone is actually astro'n my turf i want other people to chasing them off too, not me. Generally i lose my audience when i mention the possibility they astroturfing even exists, and I've always wondered why. I'll try your method out when i run into a 'turfer im sure about.
As far as any list, sorry i got nothin. I used to keep a list of suspect astroturfers on Reddit but I'm way too new on lemmy, still finding my way around.