Why Internet arguments fail…and how we can improve them

Author Brene Brown said “It’s not important for me to be right. It’s important for me to get it right.”

This brief video about Internet Arguments (4:53) explains why it’s so hard to win an argument on the Internet, even when you’re correct. Very few people actually change their minds, even when confronted with facts. This study calls it “the Backfire effect.”

What are the implications of this when we promote Digital Literacy online? This video explains how some tactics might work…sometimes.

And is it really important to “win”, which implies that the other person must “lose”? Maybe we shouldn’t try to win arguments, we should improve our arguments and the way we argue so that instead of an adversarial approach we argue to clarify and inform for mutual benefit.

#theBackfireEffect #onlinearguments #digitalliteracy #medialiteracy #truth #accuracy #gettingitright #factchecking #DigitalManifesto #LearnToBeFree

/GvB