In all of my years on the Internet, I have seen people waste countless hours trying to debate or argue in comment sections, video posts, forum posts, and more. Hell, I have wasted entire months of my life trying to win battles online. This year, I made the firm decision to stop wasting my time trying to win online conflicts. This also applies to fruitless conflicts and arguments in real life.
In the Internet “world”, trolls try to get under your skin. If you let them, they will also get into your mind and alter your thoughts and actions in the real world. If you allow this to happen, then you have lost power, all because of someone that you cannot see that would otherwise have no effect on your life. This was the story of my existence back in the days when I was proud to be a l337 gamer. I would waste hours each day trying to come up with ways to win arguments on forums. The troll or the person that I was debating would then change their tactics and continuously put me in a position where I could not win. In reality, winning was walking away and getting on with real life, not trying to prove my e-mettle by winning fruitless debates.
Only Fight Battles That Yield Fruit
Wars are fought for resources or the ability to acquire resources. It follows that you should not waste your time with petty arguments unless you are somehow going to get paid to make these arguments. Battling online foes in comment sections will not put money in the pockets of the average Internet user, so we should refrain from this. Yes, it is human nature to want to get the last word in or show the world that you have a huge “e-peen”, but at the end of the day, your actions probably won’t get you anywhere in reality.
Any debate that you engage in will require your time, which is your most precious resource. If you are expending resources, you should get some value in exchange. Since most online debates, even if won, will not bring anything tangible into your life, you have essentially wasted your time that you could have used improving yourself, working to acquire resources in real life, or at least enjoying your life rather than stressing over a debate.
Alternatives to “Online Battles”
If you just have to engage, it is best not to get wrapped up in long, grueling battles, especially those that will cause you to waste energy thinking about them in real life. Instead, just state your piece and keep moving. If you have your own medium, whether it is a blog, YouTube channel, or some other place that you can state your opinion and actually profit from it, state it there and at least your actions can possibly make you a bit of income. If you do not want to go this route, you can make a single response and leave it be; just make sure that you do not waste time arguing that you could use improving your reality.
In the end, online arguments should not effect your real life in general. It may sound cliché, but if you find yourself getting wrapped up in these quarrels, it may be time to “get a life”. Find something productive that you can do in real life. If you are successful in reality, then the words of trolls and other online hostiles should not matter one bit.