Here is Why Arguing on Facebook is a Complete Waste of Time.
The feeling of winning an argument is thrilling, but letting go of the urge to always win is liberating.
debates all the time so that I can be a part of those. The topic didn’t bother me. I could argue on almost anything with a little bit of research. When you argue on subjects which you don’t know a lot about, you develop other mechanisms to protect your augment. Methods like focusing on a specific word of the topic and put all the effort on that, or change the direction of the argument to focus on one single fact that opponent might have got wrong. There are 101 ways of protecting an argument even when you are not entirely sure. But as a debater who wants to win all the arguments, you always think about what you believe in and put your perspectives to test. You constantly refine your core beliefs to be a better fool-proof version. 9 out of 10 times, this only means you become a better person. Whenever you think how something you believe might not be true and how it can be modified to be ideal, the change is perception is positive. While this practice makes you humble to listen to your logical arguments, there is a higher chance that you turn out to be a rock for outside opinions.
I was always among the best when it comes to arguments. It could be the college newsletter a debate or even a pocket discussion group on politics. I absolutely loved discrediting other arguments using humor and other forms that will piss off my opponent. To be honest, I loved that “pissing off” part more than the argument itself. After leaving my university, there was a massive scarcity of platforms to do this. This is where Facebook came into action. Unlimited supply of arguments with massive fan bases who support you. No personal attachment to the opponent made the arguments very aggressive as I have don’t care about their feeling. Finally, the boundaries of ethics were out of the window. I went all in. I was having a ball with overwhelming opportunities to use all the skills I developed over time. It took me a while to realize how toxic that was.
I felt something is wrong when my friends in real life came up to me and said that they unfollowed me on social media because they didn’t like me there. This made me think again about my behavior. Humiliating someone with obvious facts is entertaining only to you and for people who support you. But ones you land your point with humiliation to the opponent, it will not change that person’s perspective it will only make them hate you. To be frank, they will not change at all. To give you an example, if I talk about racism while giving away facts that humiliate the opponent, that person will not stop being a racist. Instead, they will become more racist simply because they don’t want to believe that the guy who made him look like a clown is right. They will reach out to people who support the same argument as them. And at Facebook you can find people who would support any argument irrespective of facts and logic. Join a flat earth believers group and see how convinced they are about the earth being flat.
Facebook is not regulated to validate and accept only the logically correct argument. This is good in many ways, it gives a voice for the voiceless. But more often than not, it empowers ideas that do not have a place in an educated society. Some arguments are beyond our line of thinking, humanity passed that stage in evolution and yet Facebook gives them a platform to propagate the idea. The best example is the flat earth ideology. Well we sent people out to space to check if it’s true. And we know with absolute certainty that earth is not flat. There is no point of keep arguing about that. It is such a waste of time. But still, share this article with a group of ‘flat earthers’ and watch how they would get offended and get back at me. Now imagine a kid who got a wild idea, ‘maybe earth is flat’. Now in a non-Facebook environment, the kid will go to an adult and get it clarified clearly with logic pictures or refer a book. Either way, that idea will stop there and the kid will move on with life. Now imagine the kid had a Facebook account, he writes up a post just in a casual way sharing his idea where he believes the earth is flat. Just in a few minutes he will be bombarded with humiliation and likely become a meme. Now the kid’s self-esteem is challenged, he can’t give up. He will come up with more arguments to protect himself. And while all this drama, he would reach out to other ‘flat earthers’ and initiate a dialogue. Slightly this will gain momentum and next thing you know, he heads a movement that is dedicated to convincing people that the earth if flat.
There is another reason why arguing on Facebook can only end up in frustration. The acceptance of a regular one on one argument depends on the validity of the facts, built of the argument and simple logic. These are universal standards to check what to believe. However, at Facebook these do not dictate how and argument will turn out. Instead, the victory of an argument will be decided on the fan base each side would get. The number of likes and shares. Therefore if you want to be happy you will have to argue in a forum where the majority is with you. These are very favorable conditions to grow extremist ideas. Simply, You will have to feed into others’ ego to feel successful. From the time I spent on Facebook so far, I have never seen someone reach out to me and say they changed their mind after being humiliated.
Speaking your heart out is freedom, we should always cherish that. My effort is not to try and make you stop using Facebook as a platform to share your ideas. But it is unhealthy to get addicted to the stimulation you get of ‘roasting someone’.
Conclusion
Generating dialog around a subject is very important. That is how we evolve as a society. But getting on to an argument just for the sake of humiliating someone else or to be accepted are not the right reasons. Facebook will only support the that most of the time. It will either make you feel triumphant; to yourself but others will despise you. Or it will make you feel miserable and humiliated. Either way is not the right way to live a life.
