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I've found friendliness, being open and giving people entries to you opinion to work exceedingly well online. Ill give you an example of something I've done re

I've found friendliness, being open and giving people entries to you opinion to work exceedingly well online. Ill give you an example of something I've done recently on reddit during the burka-ban-debates of my country. Example 1: Our government shouldn't tell women what to wear. Example 2: I'm not a fan of burkas or of cultures that force women to wear specific clothing, however, I don't think it's fitting for our democracy to dictate what kind of clothing women are allowed to wear. In fact in doing so, I feel we are giving up basic rights, and becoming more like the cultures we are trying to fight. Example 1 got 10+ downvotes, example 2 got 50+ upvotes, despite the two examples making the same core point.

wvh 9y ago
Example one is dogma. It sets one truth. It causes a knee-jerk reaction, perhaps even in people who somewhat agree. Example two is a motivated personal opinion. Most people not completely void of rationality can see that others might have different opinions and tastes. Most will still argue, but hopefully without knee-jerk drama. As someone who considers themselves a-political, I tend to be more adverse to knee-jerk statements than actual honest opinions anywhere on the spectrum, so I fully agree with openness and embracing, "all-inclusive" communication if you'd hope to get anywhere. Sadly enough dumb emotion and drama seem to beat rationality most of the time these days.