Arguing on the internet is as futile as accumulating a million in Farm Cash on Farmville. It serves no purpose in real life as an online argument provides no solutions to real life problems. So why do people spend so much time and energy in arguing with complete strangers over the internet? Let’s find out.
To establish intellectual superiority
People who devote a lot of time arguing with others online have a deep-seated need to establish their intellectual superiority over others. Most internet arguments are based on intellectual differences about the pettiest of things (the quality of game play in various versions of an RPG, about the actions of a celebrity or proposing “what should have been done” solutions to world events) though the ultimate point of everyone involved in such an argument is to prove that their point is right and the views of everyone else are wrong.
To defend a cherished belief
If you have ever been in a sports/gaming chat room, you know just how vicious total strangers can be when defending their cherished beliefs or a sportsperson/gaming title they admire. Even if these celebrities’ or gaming titles’ reputation will not be affected by what one does or doesn’t say on the internet, people who argue about them online are passionate about them enough to feel like it is their duty to defend them as vehemently as they can.
To get some human contact
Most people today are locked into pretty mundane and non-exciting routines. With socializing too becoming limited to social media interactions, people aren’t getting enough face time with fellow humans to feed their socializing needs. Fighting with random strangers online thus becomes a valid way to engage in human interaction for people who don’t get to fight with fellow human in real life.
