Writing.Com General Discussion

I'm curious where you are encountering these types of conversations. While I definitely do see some remarks in the comments on newsfeed posts by the support account, it's not terribly often that I see these initial remarks start a flame war or anything similar. I do acknowledge that a lot of people do not exhibit the capacity for a civilized conversation. It's why I really wish Braver Angels would incorporate more tactics for dealing with online conversational behavior in their workshops. The rhetoric that gets shared in real life has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is often online. I think that nipping this sort of thing at the source is possible, and I alluded to that a bit in "Re: Re: When (or When Not) to Keep Talking"  .

(That said, I definitely do bring up politics and other controversial topics in my journal and blog. I tend to not breach those topics in forums or the newsfeed because my thoughts tend to be really long and wonky. Casually dropping 2k words on a controversial subject in either of those venues is a fairly typical weekend for me. Plus in my journal/blog I have more opportunity to step in if things get heated.)