On forums and blogs, people used to have detailed back-and-forth arguments. Can a democratic society survive if we don’t even bother arguing about ideas anymore?

I saw this article by Nathan J. Robinson on Current Affairs and wanted to share. I do agree with the idea that the twitter format discourages deep conversation and debate. Lemmy is in general much better in this regard, but even still it is affected by the wider internet culture of our time, and a proper debate culture takes effort.

Even on Lemmy I frequently see more nuanced takes being shut down by quick, snarky comments pushing the conversation into absolutes. And yes, a democratic society absolutely requires healthy discussion of difficult issues, not just outrage.

  • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
    6·
    12 hours ago

    Something happened over time, and I think it coincided with the rise of Donald Trump and the emergence of Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok as the social media platforms of choice. A lot of people just stopped bothering to defend their ideas against people who disagree with them. The arguments dried up.

    It’s because we’ve realized these people are a completely lost cause.

    The rise of these platforms increased the ability of politicians’ ability to disinform and manipulate people ten fold.