Don't Fight Flames With Flames 11/19/16

"Don't Fight Flames With Flames", written by Nick Bilton, is an article in the NY Times that argues that no one can ever win a social media argument. Bolton started off the article telling his readers that he once made the mistake of engaging in an argument online thinking that he should share his opinion on a matter, only to then be bombarded with hate messages calling him "ignorant" and "stupid" for his opinion. He goes on to explain that "trying to discuss an even remotely contentious topic with someone on social media is a fool's errand" and that many journalists believe that "the rule about engaging is that you should never engage". Nothing good comes from social media arguments and most of the time they have no purpose. 

I believe that Bilton's argument was effective and I agree with his claims. He built his credibility by mentioning that he himself has engaged in a social media argument and this helped further his argument and gave him the reliability to argue against involving yourself in a social media altercation. The author's use of anecdotes also helps make his argument effective. Everyone has either seen or been in a social media argument and we've witnessed how no one ever wins these debates because there is never an end. First off using social media to argue with someone is a problem in and of itself. Your argument is public allowing anyone who sees it to join in and that causes the argument to go on longer than it was meant to. There's also the problem that when having digital arguments you can't "detect tone, facial expressions, and, most of all, sarcasm" which, usually, leads to miscommunication and makes the argument last longer and get more heated. And even though many people know that the smart thing to do when someone is attacking you is not to respond, the impulse to defend yourself when being cursed out or called bad names causes you to attack the person back. Social media arguments can't be won because even if you know your opinion has been proven wrong you don't admit it and continue to drag the fight out. There's never a compromise made in these situations. And even if the argument gets placed to rest there will always be that one person who comes upon it three months later or so and starts the fight all over again.