The more I find myself interacting with Reddit and engaging with people over the internet in discussions, the more I'm realizing just how disturbing it is when any sort of opinion is made, the automatic worst possible assumption is made about a person, their character, their background, their life, their morals, their views, etc. If you disagree with a point, regardless of how you frame it, you are the enemy, if you change your mind about a point, you're a weasel, if you don't even insert yourself personally in a argument, you (somehow) are holier-than-thou or on a high horse.

I try often to remove myself personally from a discussion to (try) and look at facts on both sides, I try to be objective and logical when dissecting arguments, and I often try and give people the benefit of the doubt. However in almost every single discussion I have online there are people who assume my point is moot because of some twisting of words or leaps in logic, I almost always treat these comments the same, I reply in a way to reframe my point from a different POV and if I see them ignoring the point to continue just to attack me, I remove myself from the conversation entirely and (sometimes) wish them a good day.

I know arguments over the internet often dont amount to much, and I know I cant force people to change their views, nor do I care that their views of me are negative. But I do enjoy giving advice and having discussions, and I cant help be feel a little disheartened that I have to constantly defend my own character just for a point to be made valid. Should I just stop engaging in these entirely? It seems a bit wrong to just observe the negativity all the time and to not speak up or say something, I know in person that these kinds of arguments are often less decisive, but does that mean online discussions are fundamentally less valuable because they come with all the extra skepticism and distrust? I'm not even really sure what I'm asking here im just feeling a little lost.