On Facebook: Public discourse

Do you think Singapore's public discourse has become too polarised?

A public political discourse with a hint of civility could be a long shot, unfortunately. There are folk who are not even able to refrain from derogatory statements or personal attacks upon reading a comment which they are unable to resonate with.

Jerome Ong

As long as people are dead set on making their point and airing their views or, even worse, their unsubstantiated preconceived notions, without being interested in what other parties have to offer or finding out the facts... then mature discourse is impossible.

Shaun Foo

I think it's difficult to have a meaningful discourse online. Perhaps one thing can be done immediately to make things simpler: For every post on social media, although you can choose to remain anonymous, put the rough geolocation (in Singapore's case - the country).

I'm perfectly fine having a discourse with anonymous people on social media who are from Singapore. But I might not be if these anonymous people are from places such as Russia, the US and China.

Keegan Kang

What I have learnt is that when you put forth a reasonable and logical argument online, people will do the following:

  • Criticise you for "politicising" the matter.
  • Sarcastically say: "So smart, go become a minister."
  • Attack your character.
  • Say: "Never appreciate what we have."

Epic YiHong

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