STARVE: Starve the Outrage, REACH the Truth (Free Download)

The card that asks you not to battle.

Some posts are bait. A bot, a troll, or anyone who wants the fight. Pages like that grow on engagement, and an angry reply feeds them just as well as a like does.

But saying nothing isn't neutral either. Across six experiments, researchers found that when a false claim went unanswered in front of an audience, readers moved toward it. The people scrolling past read no answer as no answer.

STARVE 2.0 fixes what version 1 got wrong. Stop, and don't answer the account. Think about who benefits. Answer the room, once, for the people reading. Report and mute, then leave. Verify it privately. And elevate the truth somewhere else, which hands you straight to the REACH card, free here too.

Print it and keep it by the screen you argue on most. When it keeps you out of a fight you didn't need, tag @roottorx on Instagram with #SkepticalRevolution.

A conversation tool, not medical advice.

From Root to Rx, the science newsletter that makes sense of medicine.

Source behind the claim

Schmid P, Betsch C. Effective strategies for rebutting science denialism in public discussions. Nature Human Behaviour. 2019;3(9):931-939. Six experiments. Not responding had a negative effect on the audience. The same citation The Roots Issues 002 and 005 use.