Ask Lemmy

Don't be a cunt.

Works IRL as well

everything's made up and the points don't matter.

100%

I reply with “yes and”.

If someone tells me I’m an idiot, NEXT! It immediately invalidates their argument.

What do you mean you dont argue or "debate" online? Whats that supossed to mean? YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?!"

Similar to treat others as they treat you. I can't count how many times, people have decidedly confronted me to be a asshole of a bastard, then are quick to play the victim fiddle soon as it is handed right back at them. Don't be a prick or you'll get the treatment right back. I don't care what you're going through or anything, I'll automatically assume you've got no life going for you to be acting like a bitch to people online.

Get mad at everyone. Take it all seriously. If you stop caring deeply you lose.

Lurk first, then respond. You might find more context in the replies.

Block any and all advertising at all times.

Never take off your pirate hat because you never know when you'll need it again.

Assume someday someone will find your account or identity.

I (try to) only interact with positivity.

If someone posts a thread along the lines of "Which album/movie/book/whatever do you hate, even though every one else loves it", I'll scroll on, despite my worst instincts wanting to dive in to see if people hate something I love. I know why people post like that; because engagement on negatvity is always higher. But I feel like every time I engage with content like that, it makes me a little more cynical. I'm done being cynical, the world around me has more than enough already.

If someone pops up in my replies being a dick, I'll just mute, block or ignore them. Life's too short to spend it trying to lower cortisol levels.

Basically, the internet is already negative enough, so I try not to add to it.

Assume everything you post is gonna be there forever.

I just treat others how I want to be treated. Like I’d never say something I wouldn’t say to someone face to face, just because it’s the internet.

Don't feed the trolls.

• Be positive
• Don't let anything negative get to you
• It's not my duty to convince anyone. If they hold a stupid position, don't try to debate
• when making conversation, bail once they start treating it as an argument they need to win
• OPs mom is fair game

Never post photos or other revealing information.

I'm almost the exact opposite. I like arguing online. I think it's because of me being gigantic IRL that people don't honestly argue with me. Online, I'm just pixels on a screen and people will call me out on my bullshit.

Different strokes for different folk.

My one rule is to post pictures of Furryosa if she claws me that day.

Debates go two ways. If you're not willing to listen to the other person with at least some politeness, you're not debating and it makes it hard to take you seriously.

I'm never intentionally mean to anyone - not online, not in real life. I'm not overly polite either, and I don't hold back just to spare your feelings, but hurting people is never my goal.

I apply the same rule to people who aren't even in the room. You'll be hard-pressed to catch me talking shit about anyone, even the ones I don't like.

Support people who are trying, even if they're not there yet. Only give criticism if it's specifically being asked for. Admittedly I mostly apply this to individuals, if it's some big group or company I'm less hesitant to be more harsh and critical though I still try to remain constructive and tactful

I like good faith, polite discussion and debate. Unfortunately, everyone wants to dominate or win and few will make a concession that they might have been wrong, even if you're using the gentlest of hands.

Every debate I tried to engage was poisoned by immature people trying to be cunning instead of bringing productive arguments.

Remember EVERYONE has a voice, everyone contains very dumb people.

Same as life: Respect yourself. Respect others. Respect property.

We should all explore more, not stay stuck in a bubble of 6 or so megacorp websites that take most of the worlds traffic.

The internet is distributed, with billions of websites that are all unique.

Even if it’s difficult to find new websites to look at, then choose a different internet medium such as dark net browsers such as tor and i2p to explore the more privacy respecting web, or on the lighter side, go for geminispace or gopher browsers like Lagrange to explore the un-corporatised early internet style web.

It’s hard to explore when you don’t know where to look.

I automatically assume anyone I type at is not a true representation of themselves.

I try to be civil as best as I can if I choose to respond, even if being insulted.

If I am partaking in a "debate" or argument then my goal is to communicate some idea. Choosing to insult someone or attack them in any way completely defeats the purpose of communicating whatever idea you were trying to get across. Once you start insulting/attacking the other person will get defensive and be 1000x less likely to consider what you were trying to say.

Remember that 90% of what is said online is said by complete oddballs because nobody will talk to them in real life and they have all the time in the world to post on the Internet.

And the more extreme the view, the more sock puppets these oddballs will have to try to convince you that their fucked up view of the world is actually normal.

IRL I almost never, ever meet people who are obsessed with politics, or people who are extremists like Nazis or communists. Online, they're all over the place and it is not remotely normal. Same goes for chronic pot heads who are vehemently anti-smoking cigarettes. You don't meet that kind of bizarro-world health nuttery offline. Or people who think that people who have outdoor cats are pure evil and should be put in prison.

Extremism like this in general is not at all normal offline. But online it seems like it is. It is not.

I remember that many people spend more time here than I do, and are more invested in all things internet, and have a somewhat different lens of viewing social interactions.

I also don’t argue back and forth.

I don’t read other people’s arguments.

I have historically allowed people to assume I’m a guy across games and platforms. I don’t give a shit really, unless it is important to the context of the conversation. So I guess I’m somewhat breaking that rule on the fediverse…however it if I get misgendered I don’t correct it.

1. It's ok to disagree, and we can agree to disagree and amicably end a conversation.

2. @SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 's hostility towards ads is step 0 to using the internet.

3. @gibmiser@lemmy.world correctly clocks the fact that accounts should be cycled out and allowed to die regularly.

VPN is a condom and the internet is that dirty strange. You know you're gonna do it, might as well put a wrapper on it.

Disconnect completely and detox regularly - preferably for several days or even weeks at a time. It can do wonders for general well-being.

There's this idea going around that if you're not paying for something, then you are the product.

And that's honestly the most psychopathic thing I've ever heard in my entire life. I honestly cannot believe that the people that came up with this idea and monetized it are not currently locked in an asylum somewhere.

So my rule is I don't pay for shit.

I'm not interested in your subscriptions.

I don't care about your products and offerings.

I'm not forking over my money to you for whatever the fuck you're doing.

I'm paying for access to the internet, and I will take what is provided for me, and the rest can go fuck itself.

I don't have social media outside of this, and I will delete this account in a heartbeat if it ever becomes annoying.

And if the internet itself ever reaches the point where simply paying for access does not provide any value to me, I can live without it, and I will put it down and never come back.

If I am the product, then I am worthless. And anybody that obsesses over worthless products is insane.

Everyone is a liar.

Starting with that premise works well.