Online Arguments

I have chosen an online argument that happened over instagram. This argument started because someone in my sisters graduating high school class posted a video of them dunking on their principal during their graduation. This argument started with someone sliding into the comment section under the post and talking about white privilege and how because the boys who dunked on the principal were white they were the only ones allowed to do it and they would not get into trouble. Here is the link that goes to a google drive folder that has the images of the argument. The argument continues for a while so this is just a short example of what it looked like. There is also a video of the post you might have to download it to see it. 

I chose this argument because one this is my high school that I graduated from. Second, this video ended up going viral for a little bit and from what I saw this was one of the only argumentative comments on the video itself after doing some research on the popular instagram profiles that reposted it. 

A few concerns and negative examples that I have with this argument is one, both sides do not really know the situation that the other side is in. This is a concern because negative discussion and making personal attacks could really hurt someone over social media. The second negative example is that the person who started the argument did not know the full story of how this video came to be. A concern for this is that because they did not know that the boys who dunked on their principal asked for permission before they did it makes the person to call out white privilege seem a little harsh on the observation. The third negative example is that both sides were aiming to personally attack on another when things got out of hand. This is concerning because arguments should not be to tear one another down but to express ones beliefs on a certain subject and this was not the case in this given argument. 

five rules on how people should argue online correctly.

1) Understand that there is a person behind the screen and make sure that you are comfortable telling this person face-to-face the same thing you are telling them online. 

2) Be able to back up your argument with sound data not just a personal story. 

3) Be respectful of the other side's argument, though you may not agree with them you must acknowledge that this is what someone else believes and your should treat them with the same respect that you expect to be treated with. 

4) The goal of arguing should be to widen both sides perspectives and challenge different beliefs. 

5) Things should not get personal. nothing should be said to tear down the person you are arguing with or commenting negative things about their profile pictures or any other thing that does not relate to what you are arguing about.