Josh, Tim, and Rachel finish their multi-part series on how to be an effective pro-life advocate on social media.
Here are the tips covered in this episode:
Practical Argumentation
Use links sparingly. If your argument only works if they read a long article you link to, you’re doing it wrong. Summarize the thesis of what you’re linking to, and the link is to back you up or give them more info if they want it.
Always cite neutral websites for sources.
Know logical fallacies and cognitive biases so that you can recognize and respond to a logical fallacy (and not commit one yourself!).
Stay factual. If you’re not sure, admit it. Use disclaimers like “It’s my understanding that…” instead of asserting ideas or facts you’re not sure about.
Never claim research or studies have shown anything unless you are prepared to cite those sources.
Not drowning them in text is a good goal to strive for unless you are telling a story for something like a thought experiment. They are more likely to actually read everything you are saying this way. If they are drowning you in text with many trains of thought running everywhere, perhaps remark that they are saying a lot at once and ask them which they would like a response to first.
If someone crushes you under a wall of ranty text and you want to engage, feel free to pick one singular point and respond with only a line or two asking about it. There’s no rule saying you have to reply to every single point they make all at once.
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Please note: The goal of the comments section on this blog is simply and unambiguously to promote productive dialogue. We reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, disrespectful, flagrantly uncharitable, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read our Comments Policy.