How do you handle being upset about something online?
like either a dumbass posting stupid shit, unfair bans, idiotic arguments, etc etc. i feel so incredibly stupid letting it affect me at all, but then also there’s real feelings mixed in there because it’s a real argument i give a shit about to some degree. so it’s this odd double crossing where i know it’s stupid but i process it as being real.
bonus points for not answering ‘go outside drink water read a book’ etc etc
Very often I will be baited into arguing with a stranger on Lemmy here. Whenever someone gets under my skin I do my best to ignore them and step away from the PC and phone for a few hours and go smoke some pot. I have wasted enough time in my life arguing with strangers over differences in opinion. Too many trolls, mentally unwell people, and political extremist, all of which love to argue and are not interested in a meaningful exchange of ideas. At best they want to be ‘right’ and argue till their blue in the face, at worst they just want to waste my time and fuck with me.
Now I just let them say their piece and be done with it, to get along with my day in a positive way. And starves them of the interaction they want.
If an argument is upsetting or frustrating me then I will stop replying. I like to argue for fun and as soon as it’s not fun I try to disengage because there is already enough angry people on the internet and I don’t want to be another one.
If it’s an unfair ban, I’ll post one comment saying it’s unfair and possibly insulting the mods. Only one comment otherwise it turns into a fight and I get banned to.
The reason why I don’t really get upset by internet arguments is because I remind myself that we don’t know each other and never will. We both have completely different world views and perspective and that’s fine. I’ve also been on the internet a long time and learned the hard way that arguments on the internet are a pointless waste of time if your goal is to get the other person to change their mind.
You also never know how serious another person is. I once strung a youtube comment section argument out for 8 months. My position was that space was not real and this guy was an idiot for believing the footage was real. Of course I believe space is real its just funny to say its not and watch people lose their minds.
I tend to think that dogmatic opinions are not changeable via online discourse. You cannot rationalize someone out of these positions—that kind of change has to take place in person with some semblance of real human care and connection involved. So, I try not to post with the intent of changing the mind of someone already committed to a dogmatic opinion. That said, I think it can still be fruitful to reply to these people occasionally in situations where I think other people reading the thread might benefit from the information. My dad has one particular troll on his Facebook friends list that he occasionally replies to just to give the troll’s wider network an alternative view to consider if they feel like it.
First, if it's directed at me, I do not engage. Like, at all. If someone is trying to get my attention with shitty behavior, they're not getting it. If it's the guy on my discord meme channel who posts incel memes, I really have do have to remind myself not to engage. That one is harder, because I feel like they're taking away from the quality of the space, I don't want them in my orbit AT ALL, but they are part of the greater community, and this channel sort of quarantines their brain vomit. So again, I never engage with them, but I deliberately engage with other posters and community members who are productive and positive. In the short term, it's not rewarding, but in the long term I do feel much better about myself. And finally, sometimes I really do need to step away--maybe it's into another game, another community, etc. Sometimes I do need to take a break, seek other forms of entertainment and reinforcement. The main thing is not to continuously expose yourself to things that are aversive to you and just stress and stress. You have to break it somehow.
Beware my answer is extremely practical and "Vulcan" so to speak. With that said...
My rule for this and other things is "will I remember/care about this in a couple of days?" If the answer is no -and for most, if not all online interactions, the answer is absolutely not- then why let it occupy your mind now if it's gonna leave it soon anyways. That's why I don't bother interacting with any response that is even mildly adversarial... why bother? Both you and the other person will have forgotten about it the day after tomorrow.
Like, try to remember an specific adversarial online interaction you had from like a month ago... it's probably hard to come up with a particular one. It's just a matter of looking at it from that future perspective in the present.
But maybe, even when trying to adopt that position, you are still overwhelmed with the feeling that you need to prove that you are right or the other person is wrong. In that case, remember two maxims for internet discussion:
1 - Everyone has already chosen their position, and is not changing it.
2 - There is no price for being right.
So, from a practical perspective, you will just be wasting your time trying to prove anything, since it won't change anyone's mind and you will not gain anything from it.
For me looking at it from these perspectives helps me to be "oh well, whatever"
I think it’s important to remember that when you are interacting online, especially with an unknown person, there is no relational component. You are effectively just words or text to them, there isn’t a “person” behind what they are reading. It’s very easy to be obstinate or argumentative with just words because you can’t see the reaction or impact on the other person. So it’s nearly impossible to change someone’s mind in that format unless they are really being genuine and looking to have an exchange of ideas.
I’ve found the best way for myself to handle these types of situations is to realize nothing I say is going to impact them or change their mind. If I’m really wound up I might type a response out to get the frustration and energy out and then delete it. I usually feel better after that and can move on with my day but engaging further is just going to lead to further frustration because you can’t actually reach the person.
The best option is to not engage. What are you trying to get out of the argument with the other person? Are they arguing in good faith? Odds are, they are either a troll trying to get under your skin, or will never change their mind because they are too entrenched on their side. By engaging, you are wasting your time and likely ruining your day for no reason.
As soon as someone starts engaging with me in a rude way online, I respond with one single “hey let’s chill out” or “we can disagree peacefully” kind of comment. That gives them a chance to stop being confrontational.
If they burn that chance I either disengage or troll you into the abyss (depends by how much free time I have in that moment) because I know that arguing with angry people is useless.
I honestly don’t understand why people would ever use push notifications on platforms where they talk to strangers. I like to decide when I’m up for checking that inbox
It’s the default, unfortunately. Most if not all Android phones come with Google Service pre-installed and any app can use the notification before Android 13.
The first step for me was realizing that this stuff made me angry and unhappy. Rather than viewing this as something I need to exercise my anger on I view it as something I need to avoid so I don’t get angry. Using the block feature really helped a lot.
either ignore it or use factual calm statements to lure out personal attacks and then report them. I got a bunch of people banned from reddit this way before I was banned for “threatening violence” in a comment where I didn’t threaten anyone at all, or mention any violent acts. Things are much calmer and more “adulty” here. Besides any political discussion of course.
My response comes down to what I feel the other person’s intent is. If they’re a troll, I don’t engage to begin with - downvote and move on. If we entered into a conversation but I find that they’re arguing in bad faith (they want to argue, not reach an understanding), then I say something like “I’m not going to argue with you about it, but I appreciate your perspective” (even if I don’t). If it seems like it could be a useful disagreement, though, I’ll consciously remind myself that there’s a person behind the text, and I’ll continue the conversation until it reaches an end. It may be uncomfortable, but remembering that we’re all just humans being human helps me tone myself down.
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