Make the lookup cost feel like ZERO.

When you’re debating live (X, comments, group chat, whatever), don’t just say “go look it up.” Drop the direct link + a 5-second screenshot or pull-quote right then and there. 

Literally paste the CBO score, the actual bill text, the FBI crime stats table, whatever it is. Make it faster to read your proof than to keep arguing. 

People will STILL argue sometimes, but the lurkers see you’re the one with receipts and it plants the seed.

 

Turn fact-checking into a flex.

Phrase it as a dare: “I’ll bet anyone $20 right here on Venmo that the bill doesn’t say what you think it says. Here’s the link—who’s in?” 

Turns the short-attention-span brain from “I need to defend my team” to “I need to not look like a dumbass in front of everyone.” Works like magic.

 

Use their format against them.

60-second vertical videos (TikTok/Reels/Shorts) that are just you screen-recording the actual source while narrating: “Watch this… here’s the part they told you bans guns… oh wait, it literally says the opposite.” 

End every single one with the same line: “Link in bio if you actually care what it says.” 

You’ll get ratio’d by the cult at first, but the algorithm pushes it to people who are curious, and that’s where the converts come from.

 

Build “doubt bombs” instead of lectures.

One-sentence questions that force them to look it up themselves:  “If the border is more secure than ever, why did CBP encounters hit 302k last December?” 

“If Project 2025 bans abortion nationwide, can you quote the page for me?”

 

People hate feeling ignorant more than they hate you. Plant the itch, walk away.

 

Create public “scoreboards.”

Keep a running Google doc or Notion page titled “2025 Predictions: Who Was Right?” 

Every time someone screams “Sky is falling because of X policy,” quote them verbatim with a date, then update it later with the actual outcome and sources. 

Share it relentlessly.

Nothing humiliates the chronically wrong louder than their own words in a highlight reel.

 

Bring back the old-school “forfeit” culture.

In person or in any group chat you control, make the rule: if you make a claim and get proven wrong with primary sources, you have to post “I was wrong, here’s the proof” or you’re out of the chat for a week. 

Sounds harsh, but it only takes 2-3 public forfeits before everyone starts checking their facts first.

 

Positive reinforcement for the ones who DO look.

When someone actually changes their mind or admits they were wrong, amplify the hell out of it. Ratio the praise 10:1 over the dunking. That’s how you train the behavior you want.

 

Bottom line: You don’t fix the attention span problem by begging people to read 400-page bills. You weaponize their laziness and ego against themselves until looking facts up first becomes the path of least resistance and maximum social status.

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