Non-Monetized Together #svalien

This article was originally published to Medium on February 22, 2022 (https://medium.com/illumination/6-simple-strategies-for-becoming-unprejudiced-e0243c2a7bfa).

Just wanted to mention that I noticed this story does not match the egalitarian tone that my blog is meant to express. It was written shortly after I joined Medium, back when I didn’t have as clear of a plan for the types of articles I wanted to write about. However, I felt the article was important enough that it should be kept online anyways.

When the article was posted to Medium, the article was originally published on the ILLUMINATION publication, not Nonmonetized Together. Now, by posting it to write.as, this article can finally be published to Nonmonetized Together. Even though I try to make sure my Nonmonetized Together articles do not speak from authority as much as the article you’re about to read, I felt it should be saved onto write.as because defeating prejudice is a critical component of Nonmonetized Together.

Here are some tips you can use to help yourself treat people fairly and avoid double standards.

1. Question your environment

Sometimes I hear people defend someone’s actions by pointing out that they are a product of their environment. While this may be an accurate explanation, it’s not an excuse. Neglecting critical reflection should not be normalized. It can be all too easy to take what you have grown up with for granted and assume that it is the right way of doing things. Questioning it can help you realize its areas for improvement, keeping you humble while working toward a better future.

2. Don’t reduce individuals to a low number of descriptors

Microsoft Office stock image

Remember that people are complex. Don’t let your entire understanding of a person be limited to a few characteristics — or worse, just one characteristic. If you don’t know someone well, remember that there is a lot about them that you haven’t learned yet, so it’s too early to jump to conclusions about who they are as a person. Some people have done very bad things, but if you define the person by those actions, you will end up forgetting about good things they have done.

3. Don’t describe groups as if they’re individuals

The only exception to this is if you are referring to a requirement of being in a group. Otherwise, you promote prejudice by applying an attribute to an entire group. It’s not even good enough to add that there are some exceptions among the group, as you already manufactured an association between the group and a concept. Negatively depicting a group fosters prejudice against them, but positively depicting a group runs the risk of double standards in the group’s favour.

4. Always try to help people, no matter who they are

Microsoft Office stock image

Obviously, don’t do anything to let yourself get manipulated, but helping people improve is very important. It will allow you to realize that everybody has challenges and that we are all just trying to get by. It’s awful how poorly some people treat abusers, for example. Imagine where society could be if they helped the abuser realize that they are not worthless and decided to help them get over their problems instead of harassing them. Abuser or not, if you do a good job at helping someone, they will appreciate that, which may result in building positive social bonds with them.

5. If you respect others, they will act more respectable to you

It’s that simple.

6. Don’t call out people as hypocrites

You know, not everybody someone will say will be 100% consistent. They may forget other things they said, they may change their mind, or they may struggle to be as motivated as much as they once were. It makes more sense to gently mention the thing that is making the person’s words seem a bit “off,” and ask for some sort of clarification.

#Discrimination #Equality #Prejudice #SocialJustice #Philosophy #Equity #Acceptance #Peace

Medium comments:

Don’t describe groups as if they’re individuals

I agree with you here Kevin.

But I believe that the reverse is also true, in that one shouldn't do it.

To prescribe charateristics (real or imagined) of a group to an individual is, I believe, just as destructive.

Thanks for the read.

Michael Zwierzanski

Yes, that’s true

Kevin the Nonmonetized

---

You have a point. Like actually people and the world is complicated yet our attitudes have the great responsibility of making the world a better place! Thank you for the amazing article, Kevin! :)

Darian

Glad you enjoyed it

Kevin the Nonmonetized

Discuss...

This article is also available at https://medium.com/@non-monetized_together/bd9250b20408?source=friends_link&sk=1421604e20ca9291996f98e38a741741.

What goes through your head when you hear religious figures discuss the eternal suffering of sinners? In a worst-case scenario, a follower may feel validation for hating and abusing sinners, who in return, may feel unloved, depressed, and paranoid. Putting someone through extreme torture is as cruel and merciless as it gets, so some people are unable to reconcile it with love or acceptance.

So I came up with an idea for avoiding this worst-case scenario. You can use this idea with your own religion or a religion you’re not a part of, it doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to create peace and harmony between people who are faithful in a religion and people who choose to live a sinful life.

My idea is to view sinners the same way as the world views participants in transparently dangerous Internet challenges like the car surfing challenge. It would be strange to view these people in a vitriolic way. We can love these people as much as we want, but that does nothing to change the fact that these activities can cause huge negative repercussions. These people don’t deserve to die from these challenges, but you can’t say they aren’t asking for it either.

#Religion #Afterlife #Hate #Love #InternetChallenge

Discuss...

Photo from Howie R/Unsplash

EDIT: Users on the website incels.is have misinterpreted this article to be an attack piece targeting a sad and unsuccessful Reddit user. This was not the intention of this article at all. My purpose was to talk about something positive I realized when reading the Reddit thread — that something as simple as thanking people can make a big difference. Apologies to lonelysince2006, Efiliste, WorthlessSlavicShit, and SoycuckGodOfReddit for the miscommunication.

Recently a user known as FrothySolutions made a Reddit post asking for advice on finding a career without skills, money, or education at age 50. It got an overwhelmingly negative response because the poster turned down a lot of advice that was given. Some users openly wished that the poster would go homeless.

Yet at one point, the poster mentions that a few of the responses they received were useful. And if you look at the comments that they didn’t respond to, you’ll notice that compared to the other comments, these ones are a lot more useful and relevant for someone in the poster’s situation.

From this, I can collect that part of the reason that FrothySolutions came off so difficult was that they didn’t send “thank you” responses to the responses that were useful. Yet this seems to be pretty much unacknowledged by the commenters. Everybody’s talking about how they made comments that dismissed the advice, but people aren’t talking about their lack of response to the helpful comments.

Honestly, I feel that if the poster thanked the comments that were helpful, they could give negative feedback on other comments and still not anger the community as much as they did. It might have allowed the readers to believe that they were open to at least some advice, just aware of the fact that there aren’t many options open for them.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with politely explaining why someone’s advice doesn’t solve the situation. Instead of discouraging those responses, I think a better takeaway from this situation is that FrothySolutions should thank others when they provide an answer that is supportive.

Expressing gratitude for online comments is a small thing that one can easily forget. However, I think this example suggests that it can completely change the tone of one’s online interactions.

You can also view this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/if-you-dont-thank-people-online-things-can-go-crazy-here-s-an-example-369c1a9611db

#Netiquette #Communication #OnlineDiscussions #Gratitude #SocialSkills

Medium comments:

Honestly, I feel that if the poster thanked the comments that were helpful, they could give negative feedback on other comments and still not anger the community as much as they did.

In this instance, I'd agree with many of the posters on the thread FS seemed to be very difficuly, expecting, and many posters pointed out, that they expected them to magically resolve FS's career issues.

Beyond generic advice, they can do nothing. In addition, FS offered no real specifics on what they wanted to do. People suggested going to school, online Python courses, even jobs at a supermarket. But FS seemed to just blame their own lack of current skills (which is FS's own fault).

I think that is a prime example of an individual doing the barest minimum for years (in this case monitoring numbers not knowing what they mean) and not upskilling, assuming that thejob would exist forever.

Michael Zwierzanski

Thanks for the perspective. What would you do if you were in the discussion?

Kevin the Nonmonetized

I'd have bowed out gracefully.

I have no time for throwing shade on people on the internet. But I wouldn't have engaged with FS for a long time. The fact that at every suggestion for a career (e.g. coding) was met with some excuse, an every suggestion of getting a 'job' (e.g. supermarket) was met with dismissal would have turned me off putting in the effort.

And yourself, Kevin?

Michael Zwierzanski

Ideally, I would probably say that you don’t need to meet all the requirements to apply for a job.

Kevin the Nonmonetized

---

Probably nothing. There’s not much hope for FS.

Kevin the Nonmonetized

Agreed

Michael Zwierzanski

Discuss...

This article is also visible at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/dear-2088-im-sorry-that-you-re-society-is-doomed-due-to-2023-internet-misusage-9909d150161c.

Mimi Thian/Unsplash

Hello 2088, I’m from 2023. I’m here to apologize for the irresponsible ways my society has used the Internet and how it resulted in social disaster for your society. Anybody from the 2020s who agrees can write their name in a comment on this article. This way, they can let the future know where they stand.

I fail to understand how people can be given a platform that contains almost all the relevant information in the world and that allows them to communicate to almost anybody instantly, and then still manage to screw it up this badly. They’re given the world at a low cost and then waste it on trolling, blocking people, spreading misinformation, and making negative generalizations about groups of people.

I study online social interaction with the same inventive attitude as people who study technology and medicine in 2023. It pains me to say that the vast majority of problems caused by Internet interactions are easily avoidable. Depending on the situation, it can be a matter of just asking people before making assumptions, being willing to be proven wrong, trying to understand someone’s perspective before shutting it down, or not expecting the opposing political side to immediately understand the subtext of your political views without telling them.

Just because I’m from 2023 doesn’t mean I wish to be associated with this online culture. I’m very concerned with how it will affect your lives. And the issue cannot be solved by university researchers because the people who’ll benefit from these changes will not be reading academic publications. It will actually be solved by people who post about the situation on the Internet. This way, they can work from within to cure the affliction.

Tim Marshall/Unsplash

Yet the problem is too widespread for any one person to make any large-scale changes, so I took the initiative to carve a small corner of the Internet where people have no incentive to display such careless behaviour to the masses. The final result is Nonmonetized Together, a social hub where anybody is free to suggest, develop, and receive feedback on ideas for making the Internet a better place. Well, not just the Internet, I mean the physical world as well, but the solution to a lot of physical world problems starts with considering how Internet communication plays a role in the problem. Accessible through Medium and the Fediverse, Nonmonetized Together takes advantage of the idea that people’s decisions and beliefs can be influenced by what they read on the Internet, and that we have the power of making a positive or negative influence.

How can I be certain that people on Nonmonetized Together will not benefit from deliberately causing trouble? Well, every word I write and every decision I make for this community is made with the intention for avoiding side effects that generally come with social media. Maybe founders of some other online communities do the same, but what’s unique about Nonmonetized Together is that this is its main purpose. It’s not to share memes, discuss a fandom, repost articles, or anything else.

This means that Nonmonetized Together will also attract people who want to see positive change on Internet communities. These people will focus on being compassionate, articulate, inspirational, and patient.

I believe that even if anyone tries to provoke outrage within the community, they will be unsuccessful because their approach will stand in opposition to the motivations of the community members and their contagious positivity. Many other communities let their emotions get the best of them and try to “defeat” the troll, giving into their toxicity and the rest of the Internet’s negative atmosphere. Instead, I’m counting on the community to provide peaceful and logical responses that will instead frustrate their attempts at rage bait instead of getting sucked into them. Perhaps this could be done by focusing on their unnecessary nature of the junk comments, not their shortcomings.

Brooke Cagle/Unsplash

On the other hand, people who flat-out ignore small-scale trolls are just as toxic as the trolls themselves. I get that large-scale attacks can go out of control and needs to be shut down in those cases, but I’m talking about small-scale trolling.

It’s frustrating to see so many people fall for the advice to “ignore the trolls” without making the link between that and the social unrest in 2023. People keep saying they wish society wasn’t so paranoid and hostile, yet it seems like they want to do everything BUT directly respond to the causes. Websites in 2023 either remove inflammatory comments or encourage them. Nonmonetized Together is the only online space I can think of that aims to hold people responsible, turn these incidents into positive learning opportunities, and provide a better world for our children and grandchildren.

In 2023, people really seem to think that ignoring Internet trolls takes away their power, but ignoring them would likely mean the troll would just move on to someone who would give them exactly what they want anyway. So, ignoring them does nothing at all.

To make authentic social progress, people must react in a way that will not satisfy the disruptors, and that is what I am hoping to do here. As Bishop Robert Barron wrote, “[t]o turn the other cheek is to prevent [one] from hitting you the same way again. It is not to run or to acquiesce, but rather to signal to the aggressor that you refuse to accept the set of assumptions that have made his aggression possible” (50).

Another feature about Nonmonetized Together is that it aims to have a level playing field. Now, competition over resources, power, and influence is great from a social justice standpoint, but I hope people will be discouraged from it on Nonmonetized Together (I’ve never seen anybody attempt it on here before). I just feel that there should be at least one online community where people can share knowledge without worrying about running into those who care more about attacking them than anything they have to say. Imagine coming up with a great idea on Nonmonetized Together, being able to run it through a noncompetitive community, test it out in an environment with a level playing field, and only then taking it out into the wider world and using it as an ideological weapon. The opposition’s ideas wouldn’t stand a chance because they wouldn’t have the same screening process.

This requires the users and me to have an awareness of the inequalities present in the outside world, be careful that they do not take over Nonmonetized Together, and be willing to learn about the existence of inequalities they were previously unaware of. If people do attempt domination tactics on this community, hopefully they will be devalued by the wisdom in other members’ ideas and responses.

Nghia Le/Unsplash

For a couple reasons, I feel like I’m a great candidate for making sure Nonmonetized Together doesn’t fail. First, because I’m extremely honest but try to be sensitive to other people’s feelings at the same time. I’m motivated to be honest because it is socially rewarding, because I struggle to lie convincingly, and because I don’t like feeling guilty.

The second reason is because I have realized I don’t need any more political power than I already am given. Because of this, I trained my brain to stop affiliating with any political sides. This way, I could leave it up to the readers to take ownership of their own political activity on Nonmonetized Together, instead of being under my political control and influence. I also chose to seek meaning from Catholicism instead of politics, and the result is that I’m more willing to inspire others than bring down people I disagree with.

Inspiring others is what Nonmonetized Together is all about. I’m that sure the left, centre, and right all have their own ways of being inspired by what they read on here, but all that matters is that they are inspired positively and productively. If you feel that this does a better job at supporting future generations than the current state of the Internet in 2023, sign your name in the comments section, but be honest! Historians may look back at this post and trace your name to your online activity.

References

Barron, Robert. Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith. Image, 2011.

#Future #Power #Internet #Sociology #Activism

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Image created by AI tool DALL-E 2, the author has the provenance and copyright.

You can also view this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/i-may-be-a-bluepiller-but-im-not-evil-b752f3acbfe0?source=friends_link&sk=eecc74a1e70351205a8466649fca0ccd.

It’s sickening that there are people who tell complete strangers online that their most painful struggles are imaginary and that if they just ignore the pain, things will get better.

For example, I’ve seen this attitude expressed towards one of the most depressed and isolated communities on the Internet — the “blackpill.” This term refers to an incel group founded on the belief that no matter what they do, they are predetermined to never find someone who will fall in love with them. They’re also extremely isolated due to the blackpill philosophy being at odds with mainstream society’s understanding of relationships, which the blackpillers refer to as the bluepill. So, on top of feeling lonely, they also feel that no one outside of the blackpill understands them.

Some may notice the unbearable mix of anguish and hopelessness on blackpill forums and wonder why anyone would choose to be a blackpiller, but you have to remember that people don’t choose philosophies, they adopt them based on their experiences and the evidence presented to them. Hence, some bluepillers have suggested that even though blackpillers show a lot of hate towards women, they may just be lost souls and that they deserve mental health support from bluepillers.

While I am not opposed to this suggestion in theory, I keep seeing bluepillers use this as an excuse to message blackpillers they don’t even know, insisting that the bluepill is the way to go and that they can find love if they just adhere to a predetermined handful of bluepilled strategies. This would be tone-deaf even if they were just messaging other bluepillers who struggle to find love, because these are complete strangers and because things can be more complicated than that. But considering they are talking to people who are convinced that a) blackpill philosophy is real, b) that it is taking away their reason to live, and c) that the bluepill ignores these issues? Unbelievable. I can only envision this isolating blackpillers even more and worsening their mental health.

The first rule of making someone feel understood is to take their current situation into account. Based on what I’ve seen in my life, the bluepill is accurate, not the blackpill, but I need to remember that this does not reflect the blackpillers’ experiences. What do you do when talking to someone who already believes there’s no solution to their loneliness?

Why not just tell them: “I can understand that you are going through mental agony, and I’m sad that you feel this way.” End of story! Then you might make them feel more understood without advocating for the blackpill.

I hope that if any blackpillers are reading this, that I’ve shown them that bluepillers don’t necessarily have to be blind towards blackpill struggles. They may never take the blue pill again, but at least they don’t have to feel so hateful towards mainstream society after all.

#MentalHealth #Isolation #Society #Culture #Loneliness

Discuss...

Medium comments:

Maybe no matter what color pill someone identifies with, self-obsession is the culprit of their flaws. For instance, self-loathing and self-exaltation are two sides of the same coin. The key may be to stop thinking about yourself to feel better about life.

Robbie Newport

Interesting point. Yeah, it would be great if people cared more about people they talk with online and what they're going through. Think of it this way. The Internet allows you to communicate with people you would have never been able to talk to in person. If people embrace the Internet from this perspective, instead of using it to reinforce the type of bonds they make in real life, then maybe that will help them use the Internet to be less self-obsessed and more understanding of others.

Kevin the Nonmonetized

You can also view this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/this-writing-strategy-will-prevent-people-from-misunderstanding-your-argument-59bad7d9535c?source=friends_link&sk=c9385350b8d6d09c90db2e195c539701.

The background information in a piece of persuasive writing can easily be misinterpreted by readers as supporting evidence for the main argument. Less commonly, the supporting evidence for the main argument can be misinterpreted as background information. In reality, background information and supporting evidence serve very different purposes. Poor communication between reader and writer can arise when the writer fails to clarify which sections are background information and which sections are supporting evidence.

So, what’s the difference between supporting evidence and background information? Supporting evidence provides an answer to the question, “why is your main argument sound?” It can help readers grasp why someone could think your main argument is worth considering. Readers can decide whether they agree with you by comparing your main argument’s supporting evidence with the supporting evidence of other theories.

On the other hand, background information is used to clarify the supporting evidence and/or the main argument. Background information contextualizes the rest of your text, helping prevent you from running into communication problems revolving around different meanings of the same words. It precedes your supporting evidence so readers can get in the same headspace as you when they read the supporting evidence.

To prevent people from confusing your background information with your supporting evidence, you can organize your text into three sections: background information, main argument, and supporting evidence. If you choose to use this method, each of these sections should have their own paragraph, with a heading that states which section each paragraph corresponds with. Otherwise, it might not work.

Mixing up background information and supporting evidence results in a complete defacement of what the writer was trying to say. Once it occurs, the reader and the writer are understanding things so differently from each other that the cause of the conflict can be difficult to detect. Before cancelling someone over something they wrote, make sure to confirm with them which parts were background information and which parts were supporting evidence. You might be surprised.

Since misinterpretation can happen in any environment, these guidelines can be applied to any form of written communication. If I were to apply them to this post, paragraphs 1-3 would be background information, paragraph 4 would be the main argument, and paragraph 5 would be the supporting evidence.

#Communication #Writing #PersuasiveWriting #Miscommunication #WritingTips

Discuss...

Photo by johnhain on Pixabay

You can also view this article on https://medium.com/illumination/overcoming-life-challenges-by-working-on-emotions-348e13e40ec0?source=friends_link&sk=27f30551226ea96415db5e6f2069990d

I have some papers with important messages displayed on a wall in my bedroom. These messages are designed to help me navigate life’s challenges and allow myself to feel happier.

One of the papers says, “deal with the world as it is, not as it must or should be.” I can see how this motto applies when people lose their temper after disagreeing with each other. In this case, an example for “dealing with the world as it is” would be to resolve the disagreement peacefully and respectfully. When people show their anger, they lose sight of that goal. Then, it’s no longer about coming across as someone that others would want to accept. Instead, it completely becomes about having things their way.

The statement “deal with the world as it is, not as it must or should be” does not necessarily advocate submitting to the status quo. You may find that your beliefs and values are at odds with the establishment, who are defining what “must or should be” the way to do things.

Another paper lists five components of emotional intelligence:

1. Knowing your emotions

2. Managing your emotions

3. Recognizing emotions in others

4. Managing emotions in others

5. Motivating ourselves to achieve our goals

I like to conceptualize this list’s fifth item as a tool to manage the first four items. Some form of motivation can definitely be useful considering how challenging it can be to keep track of four things at once. What makes it especially hard is that sometimes when applying one of the skills in the list, you may find that it makes an impact on how a different skill on the list should be carried out. This could mean that even if you already think you had one of the components handled, you may need to return to it and revise your decision in a way that cooperates with other components.

This is a perfect example of why emotional intelligence is such a demanding skill. No wonder people don’t always succeed at it. It’s important to decide what matters the most to you and consistently use it as motivation to succeed at emotional intelligence.

Another one of the papers has four tips: speak with honesty, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. The older I get, the more obvious it is that following these instructions will reduce miscommunication and conflict. I also think they are the keys to a successful online community, so I set them as standards for Non-Monetized Together.

Thank you for reading this article. I appreciate your comments, but before you respond, please remember that I’m not some sort of self-help guide or expert. I’m a student in life, just like you. It wasn’t me who wrote the messages on my wall, either. I just found them useful and I wanted to share them with you.

#SelfCare #Emotions #Relationships #Reminders #OvercomingChallenges

Discuss...

Medium comments:

“deal with the world as it is, not as it must or should be”

The old is/ought problem.

You can't get an ought from an is.

Unfortunely, many people seem to have 12 million opinions on what things ought to be, and never looking at what acutally is.

I totally agree with you Kevin. It is much better to accept thw world and act one's best in it, rather than trying to change reality to suit ones own wants and desires.

Michael Zwierzanski

You can also read this article at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/always-stay-one-step-ahead-of-ai-what-can-you-do-that-ai-cant-9841b6cf114?source=friends_link&sk=16421f4939e358d4a831d8a8fa7266fa

To prevent artificial intelligence from taking away people’s jobs, intelligences, and agency, people can find ways to explore, improve, and deliver skills that cannot be replicated by AI. If you want AI to support human activity instead of replacing it, you might want to start working on these skills immediately and develop them as much as possible. All it takes is for humanity to put more time into developing themselves than the amount of time that is put into developing AI.

Even if one person reads this article and commits themselves to this concept at their job, their methods may inspire other workers at the company and make a difference in how the business operates. If you succeed at finding ways for humans to outperform AI, you can give the company reasons to justify the extra cost of human workers. You can make a difference in the lives of many.

I think that pretty much everybody would think this idea’s worth a shot, but some people, especially anti-centrists, may feel like society needs to do more than that. So, this article’s comments section has two purposes. One, readers can share ideas for how humans can stay at pace with AI. Two, they can add any other suggestions they may have on what to do about AI. These suggestions can turn into action by being read by others and influencing readers’ real-life decisions (https://write.as/non-monetized-together/how-online-discussion-offers-more-potential-for-social-change-than-irl-activism).

I think customer service is one of the most important things to be protected. If the company you work at uses AI as customer service, maybe you can do something to serve customers who deserve something better. Maybe work after hours so you can provide an alternate service for people who want a human to do it for them. This may not be the best idea, so I hope people who read this article can collaborate so they can make a better one.

Another one of the biggest examples is how AI shapes our opinions and how we view the world. I’m mentioning this because it’s already been in full-force for years now with corporate-driven recommendation algorithms deciding what you see. This makes it only more important to avoid generalizing entire groups of people. I also suggest to remember that people are sometimes recommended different content than the content you receive, which may have influenced their thought process. This is why it’s important to give people a chance to explain why they feel the way they do, so you can provide a response that you can be sure applies to them.

This form of AI is easier to resist if you use search engines instead of social media, since with search engines you can search for viewpoints that challenge yours or specifically choose results that are lower-ranked on the search page. Search engines are tailored to the user’s preference too, but in my experience, it’s not as influenced by them as social media. Of course, there’s also read.write.as, which does not run ads and sorts articles by most recent, ensuring everybody gets their voice heard.

Do you have any ideas for techniques to research information outside of AI’s influence?

Now this is write.as, so I can’t leave without bringing attention to the fact that AI can now make blog posts. How can you make sure your posts compete with that of AI? Keep in mind the things AI will able to replicate a long time from now, not just today. Well, AI is trained off pre-existing information, so you can try writing in an original style. Then, you’ll be able to innovate before the AI can. You can write about topics that have barely been discussed on the Internet. AI would have trouble writing about those topics.

What can you do to prove that your blog posts are not written by a robot?

What else is there to say? You know I love challenging dominant power forces, but when there is a shift in society, I also adapt my methods in doing so. That way, I never admit defeat and I’m ready for anything.

#ArtificialIntelligence #Economy #Power #Technology #Society

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This article was originally published on January 14, 2022 at https://medium.com/non-monetized-together/you-dont-need-to-go-viral-to-make-an-important-post-online-5b3f99e1c00e?source=friends_link&sk=4f40ea7de73ae401902bc679722b8c1e

I’m serious, participating in online discussion could be the #1 way an ordinary person can cause some change in the world! I get the sense that others think that very online people are wasting their time arguing with strangers. No, it’s a big deal. And it doesn’t just have potential to result in social change — it IS social change. People remember what others say online. It has an impact on others. Even if it’s just a small amount of people, like a few dozen. You won’t likely get that type of exposure in “real life.” If your post has few views but is effective, it may impact the reader’s attitudes and behaviours, which impacts other people! And you can make hundreds, or even thousands of these posts! The thing about viral social justice campaigns is that they are under pressure to conform to norms. They just make people feel like they have their beliefs validated. That’s not social change right there. Social change is being honest and not worrying about being popular. Most people aren’t even aware of this and use Internet discussions negatively! If you use it positively, you stand out. Oh, and remember, you have the chance to view even your most heated online debates as a learning experience, not a boxing match. Sometimes a learning experience for you, but not always. It can be a learning experience for those who you are interacting with, those who can join in, signed-out “lurkers,” or even readers from the future! Even when the discussion feels “hopeless,” it’s not. There are also people like me who like discussing things online because I have the freedom to type things out, make sure I’m saying how I really feel, and organize my thoughts. I don’t have the opportunity to think things through in a real-life debate. Hopefully, YouTube’s removal of the dislike button will encourage people to contribute their part to the necessity that is the comments section.

Oh, and I forgot to mention! Going on the Internet can help you learn about problems in society you wouldn’t have been able to know about otherwise!

#Change #Progress #InternetDebate #InternetDiscussion

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