I know this post a bit hypocritical in the sense that I am asking for someone to change my view through a debate possibly , but here it goes anyway. The internet is a lousy place to have a discussion on critical issues. It's far too easy to dismiss arguments your opponents are making or to simply abandon a debate without any consequences. Think of it this way In a televised debate, or even just a debate with your friends, you are mostly forced to acknowledge your friend's point and try to refute it. If you cannot, then essentially he is the only one with a legitimate argument at the time. If you don't counter his point, your friends with you are going to notice that and may press you to offer an opposing view, otherwise, they will just see that you are ignoring your friend's argument and want to avoid confronting it. For example, let's say that you are arguing with a friend about how sour a skittle was. Your friend argues that the skittle is sour because it tastes sour to him. In an ideal debate, you might argue that the skittle tastes sour to him, but that others may not find that taste sour. If you were to avoid your friend's argument, you might change the subject to another aspect of the skittle or resort to some logical fallacy and in person, this can be damaging to your arguments. I know that is not the best example, but I think many of us have experienced something like this on the internet when debating. Another thing most of us probably see is how easy it is to stick to one's present view and simply reiterate lies that conform to such a view. For example, someone may just consider arguments that conform to their beliefs, and ignore any other argument and or source. The ability to do this is far too easy on the internet because the commenters are anonymous and, again, can just ignore things with any consequence. Also, in online forums, you surround yourself with people who agree with you and give a feeling of hey everybody who agrees with me is saying I am right and on Reddit, for example, you can downvote comments to where people can easily scroll over them or not see them. Another point I would like to make is that it is too easy to avoid critical thinking and much easier to take things at face value. Let's say that someone posts an opinion online from a news agency, people will often not read the article and just read the title. For example, an article like The Iraq War Was a Mistake. by Jim Bob. The article argues that the war was a mistake for whatever reasons, and concludes it was a mistake. However, many on the internet just read the headline and don't acknowledge or debate Jim Bob's points, and simply argue their own points. In a debate where you with someone in person, they might specifically ask you your opinion on one of Jim's points, and if you don't, you are perceived as ignoring the point person. On the internet, you can bypass this and write off Jim as an idiot and, again, resort to logical fallacies and in a way get away with it, as where in person you cannot get away that easy with it. You are essentially pressed into offering an opposing point. TL DR So, in the end, I believe the internet is not an ideal place to debate issues because it is easier to ignore the view of an opponent, resort to logical fallacies, where as in real life that is a lot harder. Edit Add On Thanks to everyone in this post so far for offering all your opinions. It has changed my view of not only debating online, but debating in general. gt This is a footnote from the  moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please read through our rules If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which, downvotes don't change views Any questions or concerns? Feel free to message us Happy ing
The internet forums, comments sections, etc is not a good place to debate critical issues.