I don't know why, but I have a pattern of arguing with theists in youtube comments...and then wondering why they don't understand what I am saying. Recently when a theists asked me if I thought the universe just magically popped into existence, I tried to point out that they believe their god magically popped into existence and/or always existed in some way so that "popping into existence from absolutely nothing" isn't even something THEY accept, much less what any atheist/scientist/skeptic has suggested. But the subtlety of the point is completely lost. It reminds me when Matt Dillahunty had a caller once who said she judged her god to be good. Matt tried to point out that in order to judge god to be "good", there had to be a standard of "goodness" outside of god in order to make that judgment, and hence god is not the standard of goodness (and cannot be). But the woman completely missed the point and got angry, saying her experience with god over years guarantees god is good (making Matt's point for him without understanding it or even trying to). That's what frustrates me the most.

I find doing anything like that on line is near impossible unless it is prearranged and the person you're talking to is prepared for it. Even then, it is far too easy to hide behind BS and there is no sense of commitment. When you talk to people in person and they agree to talk with you, they feel committed because they said they would. On line, they can simply click a button and be on with their cat videos, never giving that silly person asking those personal questions another thought. People are also far less likely to lie to a persons face (in general). The beauty of the interwebz is that people can be whomever they'd like to be. That being said, you risk getting the responses from a made up personality vs an honest thought process.

If digital epistemology is your focus, I wish you the best and would like to follow you to see how it goes. I'd also love to hear more in the future about what you've learned through the process. I would also love to hear comparisons between your digital experience and any real world talks you might have.

The only thing I have to offer in the way of tips is that the theoretical, esoteric arguments probably are of little value unless you are speaking to the already converted, or de-converted, as the case may be. But I just wanted to commend you on your efforts. Though it's one's prerogative to be of the mindset of keeping ones beliefs to yourself unless religious beliefs intrude on yours, I feel that with that attitude, the change which most all of us would like to see in society's embracing of a more secular perspective will be even more deathly slow in occurring than it already is.