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How should we treat people who have chosen to post their political opinions on the Internet, when we strongly disagree with them?

Isn't responding or critiquing the ideas in a podcast, Reddit thread or a tweet exactly how a) the Internet, b) free speech, and c) liberal civil society are supposed to work?

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Most of the time, the ideas are not critiqued, but instead it's an invective-filled ad hominem attack unleashed from all directions.

Not sure I agree with "most of the time", but anyway, isn't my friend's critique of ideas somewhat similar to my enemy's invective-filled ad hominem attack? Don't these all fall within perfectly ok behavior between adults who have chosen to spend time reading each others' thoughts?

I don't think so at all. Civilized debate over ideas? Great. Middle-school-tier name-calling, shaming tactics, and attempts to get someone fired from their job because you disagree with them? Completely unacceptable. Are we all in middle school now because we don't have to look at each other face to face?

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