I just wish people were less aggressive when arguing on the internet. It just gets so vitriolic and about winning rather than finding the truth
I also hate when people think "downvote = disagree" when that's really not what we should be using it for. I never down vote in a debate (unless they get rude or offensive) and I always feel bad when someone comes along and down votes the person I'm arguing with! Now they're going to think it's me doing it and get angry!
I pretty much only downvote people if they're being a dick or seem to be deliberately spreading misinformation. I don't like "downvote=disagree" because it seems like it helps polarize people.
I guess it really makes a difference how you're having an argument. Generally irl, arguments would be more logical as it is easy to determine if there is sarcasm involved, etc.
Online it may be hard to determine the writers intent, and some may just dismiss the writers comment. This aspect might be the reason why arguments online are so ferocious.
It's not even about fallacies, most people don't want to change their opinions, they just want to be right. They don't care about having a discussion or learning. They're more interested in fighting and intellectual browbeating than they are opening up to the possibility that they might be wrong or being empathetic and not shaming people over being wrong.
Most people are lurking, I post it for them so they can see real information or see that there are other people on their side in the case of marginalized groups.
I don't understand this attitude. If an argument is good, why wouldn't it be valuable or matter? I think it would benefit people a lot if everyone put more thought and consideration into their arguments, especially in the direction of conveying some original thought that isn't just a remix of the same tired propaganda style rhetoric everyone's heard a million times before. "Winning" doesn't matter, but collaboratively thinking about things with other people matters, and a good way to do that is through argument.
The goal is to never aim to win an internet argument. The goal is to make the person seem dumber than you that way we all feel better in our real lives