• Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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    23 days ago

    I’ve tried a lot and the problem is that the people are entrenched in their beliefs. They are in irrational states of mind on social media, and you can’t rationally talk to people in that state of mind.

    The most successful I’ve had is simply the Socratic method. Remain calm, simply ask open ended questions which are designed to just make them question their tightly held beliefs. Why are cities less safe, why do you feel this, etc. however even I find they will often just get angry at that even.

    Ultimately, it’s not social media which will win minds. It’s in the open. I’ve had more luck meeting people casually in bars and talking to them vs on a keyboard

    • garbagebagel@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      I’ve heard this method as a way to combat racism and transphobia as well (which I guess are based on misinformation). Most of the time people are just repeating what they’ve heard so it’s good to get them to think about why they believe it, even if it doesn’t fully change their mind.

    • DandomRude@lemmy.worldOP
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      22 days ago

      Unfortunately, I believe that social media does influence people’s decisions very much. If that weren’t the case, criminals like Trump could never be elected president, and 20-25% of the people in my home country wouldn’t vote for open Nazis.

      Nevertheless, thank you for your valuable contribution: In addition to technical possibilities, I am also interested in how to deal with people who do not accept rational arguments - the Socratic method is probably the best way to make a point with them.