Communicating Online: Online Arguments

 Hello, classmates!

What a relevant topic this week-- online arguments. It seems that lately, possibly due to the amount of people staying home due to the pandemic, online vitrol has reared its ugly head. Many of these are between everyday people arguing on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or other social media sites, but some of these people are in the spotlight as celebrities, and have received a decent amount of public backlash due to their words. The most recent example of someone being hit with anger from social justice activists on a regular basis is Cardi B, a well known R&B singer. Cardi, allegedly not realizing they were slurs, used disparaging language used for Asian and disabled people as descriptors for people in her life, disrespecting Hindu culture, and most recently, hit again for publicly posting about her large Thanksgiving gathering during a pandemic. 

Social justice activists quickly pounced on Cardi B for these issues on Twitter and Facebook, prompting her to lash out angrily at those attacking her for what she believes were mistakes. 

Three negative aspects of this argument are as follows: 

1. The complete lack of a sincere apology from Cardi B mitigating the PR disaster these incidents have caused her, and promising to do better. 

2. The unforgiving, vicious rage of social justice activists who could have used this as a teaching moment-- not particularly for Cardi, but for her audience, and those she hurt with her words. 

3. The lack of constructive dialogue on either side. No one seemed to want to rise above the petty insults or slurs and discuss the systemic issue with embedded racist and abelist language, or the startling disrespect for science in the face of a global pandemic. 

If we are to truly create a humanistic dialogue online, there must be five rules we have to follow in order to keep things civil and constructive: 

1. Do not give in to "trolls," or those who are there in bad faith and do not wish to contribute anything substantial to the argument. Ignore them completely.

2. Explain your position in clear, concise language without using insults or dehumanizing the person with whom you are conversing. 

3. Use evidence, studies, and educational materials every chance you can to back up your arguments. If the person you're arguing with is truly interested in an informed debate, these will help facilitate civil discussion.

4. Give people a chance to educate themselves on disparaging language of which they may not have really been aware. Differences in educational backgrounds intersects with class and race issues, and we have to be aware of those gaps before we demonize someone else. 

5. Come to the argument with an awareness of intellectual humility, meaning that we all are unaware or undereducated on certain issues and have room to grow. 

-H