{ "version": "littlescreen-reference.v1", "updated": "2026-05-24", "sourceLadder": [ "Primary source", "Official data", "Peer-reviewed research", "Reputable journalism", "Expert commentary", "Social post", "Anonymous claim" ], "guides": [ { "id": "bigscreen-vr-topic-map", "kind": "Directory", "title": "Bigscreen VR Public Room Topic Map", "summary": "A category map for movies, watch parties, politics, religion, identity, misinformation, karaoke, music, adult chat, tech, science, comedy, and chill rooms.", "risk": "Medium", "moderationDifficulty": "Medium", "starterQuestions": [ "What type of room is this, and what behavior should a guest expect?", "Which categories need clear age, safety, or source rules before people enter?" ] }, { "id": "logical-fallacies-library", "kind": "Logic", "title": "Logical Fallacies Library", "summary": "Short definitions, VR-room examples, responses, and danger levels for common argument errors.", "risk": "Low", "moderationDifficulty": "Low", "starterQuestions": [ "Which fallacy is blocking progress right now?", "Can the room restate the strongest version of the claim before responding?" ] }, { "id": "debate-room-host-guide", "kind": "Hosting", "title": "Debate Room Host Guide", "summary": "Rules, timer patterns, queue hygiene, intervention steps, and clean endings for public debate rooms.", "risk": "Medium", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "How long should each person speak?", "What earns a mute, kick, report, or reset?" ] }, { "id": "source-quality-ladder", "kind": "Media Literacy", "title": "Source Quality Ladder", "summary": "A fast ranking system for judging sources during live rooms.", "risk": "Low", "moderationDifficulty": "Medium", "starterQuestions": [ "What is the highest-quality source anyone has brought?", "Is this a primary source, interpretation, opinion, or unsourced claim?" ] }, { "id": "politics-current-events", "kind": "Topic Guide", "title": "Politics and Current Events Rooms", "summary": "A neutral guide for policy claims, news-cycle arguments, election talk, and public figures.", "risk": "High", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "Are we debating values, facts, policy outcomes, or team identity?", "What evidence would change a reasonable person's mind?" ] }, { "id": "religion-philosophy", "kind": "Topic Guide", "title": "Religion and Philosophy Rooms", "summary": "A structure for belief, atheism, theology, morality, meaning, and respectful disagreement.", "risk": "High", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "Are we debating a claim, a text, an experience, or a tradition?", "What would count as respectful challenge in this room?" ] }, { "id": "lgbtq-trans-debate", "kind": "Topic Guide", "title": "LGBTQ / Trans Debate Rooms", "summary": "Safety-forward guidance for identity, rights, sports, language, families, and public policy rooms.", "risk": "High", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "Can we debate policy without targeting people's identities?", "Which terms need definitions before the room continues?" ] }, { "id": "communism-capitalism", "kind": "Topic Guide", "title": "Communism vs Capitalism Rooms", "summary": "A guide for economic systems, historical examples, inequality, incentives, state power, and labor.", "risk": "Medium", "moderationDifficulty": "Medium", "starterQuestions": [ "Are we comparing theory, history, or current policy?", "What tradeoff matters most: liberty, equality, stability, prosperity, or accountability?" ] }, { "id": "misinformation-conspiracy", "kind": "Topic Guide", "title": "Misinformation and Conspiracy Rooms", "summary": "A guide for unfalsifiable claims, source chains, screenshots, old videos, and evidence standards.", "risk": "High", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "What would prove this claim wrong?", "Can we trace this claim to an original source?" ] }, { "id": "nsfw-minors-vr", "kind": "Safety Guide", "title": "NSFW, 18+, and Minors in VR", "summary": "Age-gating, room labels, boundaries, host responsibility, and escalation guidance for adult spaces.", "risk": "High", "moderationDifficulty": "High", "starterQuestions": [ "Is the room label clear before people join?", "What is the immediate action if a minor enters an adult room?" ] }, { "id": "vr-public-room-safety", "kind": "Safety Guide", "title": "VR Public Room Safety", "summary": "Voice, embodiment, harassment, muting, blocking, reporting, and how to leave a bad room cleanly.", "risk": "Medium", "moderationDifficulty": "Medium", "starterQuestions": [ "What should guests do before a tense room escalates?", "How can hosts support someone being targeted without making them relive it?" ] }, { "id": "debate-formats-library", "kind": "Formats", "title": "Debate Formats Library", "summary": "Reusable structures like timed debate, fishbowl, hot seat, steelman challenge, source-check challenge, and fallacy bingo.", "risk": "Low", "moderationDifficulty": "Medium", "starterQuestions": [ "Which format fits the room size and emotional temperature?", "Should this topic use open floor, timed turns, or source-check mode?" ] } ], "fallacies": [ { "id": "straw-man", "name": "Straw Man", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Misrepresenting someone's position so it is easier to attack.", "simpleExample": "They want rules for the room, so they must hate free speech.", "vrExample": "A guest turns a narrow moderation proposal into a claim that nobody can joke anymore.", "response": "Restate my actual claim, then respond to that version." }, { "id": "ad-hominem", "name": "Ad Hominem", "dangerLevel": "High", "definition": "Attacking the person instead of answering the argument.", "simpleExample": "You are wrong because you are young.", "vrExample": "A speaker dismisses a policy argument by mocking the user's voice, avatar, age, or identity.", "response": "Address the claim without targeting the person." }, { "id": "whataboutism", "name": "Whataboutism", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Deflecting criticism by pointing to another issue instead of answering the claim.", "simpleExample": "What about when the other side did something bad?", "vrExample": "Every question about one leader becomes a pivot to a different leader.", "response": "We can discuss that next, but answer this claim first." }, { "id": "false-dilemma", "name": "False Dilemma", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Pretending there are only two options when more possibilities exist.", "simpleExample": "Either allow everything or ban discussion entirely.", "vrExample": "A room frames moderation as total censorship or total chaos.", "response": "List the middle options before we choose sides." }, { "id": "slippery-slope", "name": "Slippery Slope", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Claiming one action will inevitably cause extreme outcomes without showing the chain.", "simpleExample": "If we mute one person, every dissenting voice will be banned.", "vrExample": "A guest says one room rule will destroy all public debate.", "response": "Name each step in the chain and what evidence supports it." }, { "id": "appeal-to-authority", "name": "Appeal to Authority", "dangerLevel": "Low", "definition": "Treating an authority figure as proof without examining evidence or expertise.", "simpleExample": "A famous creator said it, so it is true.", "vrExample": "A speaker cites a celebrity instead of a source relevant to the claim.", "response": "What evidence did that authority use?" }, { "id": "appeal-to-emotion", "name": "Appeal to Emotion", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Using fear, pity, anger, or excitement as a substitute for evidence.", "simpleExample": "If you care about people, you must agree with me.", "vrExample": "A speaker raises the emotional stakes so nobody can ask for evidence.", "response": "The emotion matters, and we still need to test the claim." }, { "id": "moving-goalposts", "name": "Moving the Goalposts", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Changing the standard of proof after the first standard has been met.", "simpleExample": "Show me one source. Now show me ten sources. Now show me a source from my side.", "vrExample": "A guest keeps changing what would count as proof.", "response": "Before we continue, agree on the evidence standard." }, { "id": "gish-gallop", "name": "Gish Gallop", "dangerLevel": "High", "definition": "Flooding the room with too many claims at once so nobody can check them.", "simpleExample": "A speaker lists twenty claims in a minute, then says nobody refuted them.", "vrExample": "A debate room gets buried under screenshots, slogans, and unrelated claims.", "response": "Pick your strongest claim and we will examine that one first." }, { "id": "circular-reasoning", "name": "Circular Reasoning", "dangerLevel": "Low", "definition": "Using the claim itself as the proof.", "simpleExample": "This source is reliable because it always tells the truth.", "vrExample": "A room treats a claim as proven because the same community repeats it.", "response": "What independent evidence supports it?" }, { "id": "cherry-picking", "name": "Cherry-Picking", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Selecting only evidence that supports one side while ignoring contrary evidence.", "simpleExample": "One study supports my claim, so all other studies do not matter.", "vrExample": "A speaker shares one clipped chart without context.", "response": "What does the full body of evidence say?" }, { "id": "red-herring", "name": "Red Herring", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Introducing a distracting point that pulls the room away from the issue.", "simpleExample": "Instead of answering the policy question, the speaker attacks media bias generally.", "vrExample": "A moderator question about sources turns into a debate about avatars.", "response": "That may be separate. Return to the original claim." }, { "id": "no-true-scotsman", "name": "No True Scotsman", "dangerLevel": "Low", "definition": "Changing a category to exclude counterexamples.", "simpleExample": "No real member of my group would do that.", "vrExample": "A speaker dismisses every bad example as not a real example.", "response": "Define the category before examples are tested." }, { "id": "loaded-question", "name": "Loaded Question", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Asking a question that smuggles in an accusation or assumption.", "simpleExample": "When did you stop lying about this?", "vrExample": "A guest asks a hostile question that forces the target to accept the premise.", "response": "I do not accept that premise. Ask it without the accusation." }, { "id": "tu-quoque", "name": "Tu Quoque", "dangerLevel": "Low", "definition": "Rejecting a criticism because the critic is accused of hypocrisy.", "simpleExample": "You did it too, so your point is invalid.", "vrExample": "A speaker avoids the claim by accusing the other side of inconsistency.", "response": "Hypocrisy may matter, but the claim still needs an answer." }, { "id": "motte-and-bailey", "name": "Motte-and-Bailey", "dangerLevel": "High", "definition": "Switching between an extreme claim and a safer claim when challenged.", "simpleExample": "All moderation is tyranny becomes I just support free discussion.", "vrExample": "A guest makes a harsh claim, then retreats to a harmless version when questioned.", "response": "Which claim are you defending, the strong one or the safer one?" }, { "id": "equivocation", "name": "Equivocation", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Using the same word in different ways inside one argument.", "simpleExample": "Free means no cost in one sentence and no rules in the next.", "vrExample": "A room talks past itself because 'censorship' means different things to each speaker.", "response": "Define the key term before we continue." }, { "id": "hasty-generalization", "name": "Hasty Generalization", "dangerLevel": "Medium", "definition": "Drawing a broad conclusion from too little evidence.", "simpleExample": "One rude guest proves the whole group is rude.", "vrExample": "A speaker uses one viral clip to characterize millions of people.", "response": "How representative is that example?" }, { "id": "post-hoc", "name": "Post Hoc Fallacy", "dangerLevel": "Low", "definition": "Assuming that because one thing happened before another, it caused the other.", "simpleExample": "The rule changed and then attendance dropped, so the rule caused it.", "vrExample": "A host blames one moderation action for every later room problem.", "response": "What else changed at the same time?" }, { "id": "conspiracy-unfalsifiability", "name": "Conspiracy Unfalsifiability", "dangerLevel": "High", "definition": "Making a claim impossible to disprove because all contrary evidence is treated as part of the plot.", "simpleExample": "Any source that disagrees is controlled opposition.", "vrExample": "The room cannot test a claim because every correction becomes proof of a coverup.", "response": "What evidence would show this claim is false?" } ], "tactics": [ { "id": "sealioning", "name": "Sealioning", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Endless polite questions used to exhaust someone instead of understand them.", "hostMove": "Set a question limit, require the questioner to state their own position, and move on." }, { "id": "jaqing-off", "name": "JAQing Off", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Using 'just asking questions' as a shield for loaded or repeated claims.", "hostMove": "Ask the speaker to turn the question into a clear claim that can be tested." }, { "id": "dogpiling", "name": "Dogpiling", "risk": "High", "definition": "Several users target one person at the same time.", "hostMove": "Pause the stack, reset to one speaker at a time, and check whether the target wants to continue." }, { "id": "tone-policing", "name": "Tone Policing", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Avoiding the argument by attacking the emotion of the person making it.", "hostMove": "Separate delivery from substance, then return to the claim." }, { "id": "derailing", "name": "Derailing", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Changing the topic to avoid the point currently under discussion.", "hostMove": "Name the drift and put the new topic in the queue." }, { "id": "doom-spiraling", "name": "Doom Spiraling", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Making every issue apocalyptic until the room loses the ability to compare evidence or solutions.", "hostMove": "Ask for one concrete claim, one timescale, and one proposed response." }, { "id": "do-your-own-research", "name": "Do Your Own Research Loop", "risk": "Medium", "definition": "Demanding that others prove or disprove a claim while refusing to present sources.", "hostMove": "Require the claimant to bring their best source first." }, { "id": "evidence-laundering", "name": "Evidence Laundering", "risk": "High", "definition": "Using weak sources that cite each other until the claim looks better supported than it is.", "hostMove": "Trace the claim to its original source before continuing." }, { "id": "meme-as-argument", "name": "Meme-as-Argument", "risk": "Low", "definition": "Treating jokes, slogans, or memes as proof.", "hostMove": "Ask for the claim underneath the meme." }, { "id": "identity-baiting", "name": "Identity Baiting", "risk": "High", "definition": "Provoking people through identity-based digs instead of debating the topic.", "hostMove": "Stop the bait immediately and move to mute or kick if it continues." }, { "id": "bad-faith-free-speech", "name": "Bad-Faith Free Speech Framing", "risk": "High", "definition": "Using free speech language to demand immunity from room rules or harassment boundaries.", "hostMove": "Clarify the difference between legal speech rights and host-run room standards." }, { "id": "moderator-baiting", "name": "Moderator Baiting", "risk": "High", "definition": "Trying to provoke a host into an overreaction that becomes the new topic.", "hostMove": "Use short, consistent warnings and avoid arguing about enforcement during the active round." }, { "id": "ban-evasion", "name": "Ban-Evasion Behavior", "risk": "High", "definition": "Returning under another account, name, or avatar to continue a removed behavior.", "hostMove": "Document the pattern, remove quickly, and report through platform tools." }, { "id": "room-hijacking", "name": "Room Hijacking", "risk": "High", "definition": "Taking over the agenda through volume, repetition, music, insults, or coordinated disruption.", "hostMove": "Freeze the queue, restore the topic, and remove persistent hijackers." } ], "topicCards": [ { "id": "free-speech-moderation", "name": "Free Speech vs Moderation", "roomRisk": "High", "whatItIs": "A debate over expression, platform rules, harassment, censorship, and who gets to set room boundaries.", "commonClaims": [ "Anything should be allowed.", "Platforms must remove harmful content.", "Moderation always becomes censorship." ], "commonFallacies": [ "False dilemma", "Slippery slope", "Motte-and-bailey" ], "reliableResources": [ "Platform community standards", "First Amendment primers for U.S. legal context", "Digital safety and moderation research" ], "bestHostRule": "Debate policies and principles, not personal attacks or protected identities.", "starterQuestions": [ "What is the difference between government censorship and platform moderation?", "When does speech become harassment?", "Who should decide room rules?" ] }, { "id": "politics-current-events", "name": "Politics and Current Events", "roomRisk": "High", "whatItIs": "A fast-moving debate space where people mix policy, identity, breaking news, and party loyalty.", "commonClaims": [ "The other side is destroying the country.", "The media is hiding the real story.", "My source proves the whole case." ], "commonFallacies": [ "Whataboutism", "Cherry-picking", "Hasty generalization" ], "reliableResources": [ "Official records", "Full transcripts", "Multiple reputable newsrooms", "Nonpartisan data sources" ], "bestHostRule": "Separate factual claims, value claims, and policy preferences before the room votes or argues.", "starterQuestions": [ "What claim are we testing first?", "What would count as a reliable source here?" ] }, { "id": "religion-philosophy", "name": "Religion and Philosophy", "roomRisk": "High", "whatItIs": "A discussion space for belief, disbelief, scripture, morality, meaning, evidence, and personal experience.", "commonClaims": [ "My tradition has the only truth.", "Science disproves religion.", "Morality requires belief." ], "commonFallacies": [ "Straw man", "Appeal to authority", "Loaded question" ], "reliableResources": [ "Primary texts", "Credible translations", "Philosophy references", "Scholarly context" ], "bestHostRule": "No mocking worship, identity, grief, or sincere belief; challenge claims and interpretations.", "starterQuestions": [ "Are we discussing truth, meaning, ethics, or lived practice?", "Can each side steelman the other first?" ] }, { "id": "lgbtq-trans", "name": "LGBTQ / Trans Debate Rooms", "roomRisk": "High", "whatItIs": "A high-stakes topic involving civil rights, identity, healthcare policy, sports, language, families, and safety.", "commonClaims": [ "This is only about policy.", "Language rules are censorship.", "Identity debates are never personal." ], "commonFallacies": [ "Loaded question", "Hasty generalization", "False dilemma" ], "reliableResources": [ "Policy text", "Medical association statements", "Civil rights law explainers", "Peer-reviewed research" ], "bestHostRule": "People are not debate props. Debate policies without harassing or invalidating room guests.", "starterQuestions": [ "Which policy or definition is actually under debate?", "How do we keep affected people safe while the room discusses hard questions?" ] }, { "id": "communism-capitalism", "name": "Communism vs Capitalism", "roomRisk": "Medium", "whatItIs": "A debate over economic systems, incentives, property, state power, labor, equality, and historical examples.", "commonClaims": [ "Capitalism is freedom.", "Communism has never been tried.", "Markets always solve it." ], "commonFallacies": [ "No true Scotsman", "False dilemma", "Cherry-picking" ], "reliableResources": [ "Economic data", "Primary historical documents", "Comparative policy research", "Labor and poverty statistics" ], "bestHostRule": "Define the system and time period before comparing outcomes.", "starterQuestions": [ "Are we debating theory, implementation, or current policy?", "Which outcome should matter most?" ] }, { "id": "misinformation-conspiracy", "name": "Misinformation and Conspiracy Thinking", "roomRisk": "High", "whatItIs": "A debate space for rumors, false claims, old videos, manipulated screenshots, source chains, and unfalsifiable beliefs.", "commonClaims": [ "They do not want you to know this.", "All mainstream sources are controlled.", "A screenshot proves it." ], "commonFallacies": [ "Conspiracy unfalsifiability", "Evidence laundering", "Post hoc fallacy" ], "reliableResources": [ "Original documents", "Archive lookups", "Reverse image/video checks", "Independent fact checks" ], "bestHostRule": "The person making the claim brings the first source, and the room checks the original before debating spin.", "starterQuestions": [ "What would prove this claim false?", "Can we find the first appearance of this quote, image, or video?" ] } ], "formats": [ { "id": "open-floor", "name": "Open Floor", "bestFor": "Chill rooms", "description": "Loose conversation with light host steering.", "moderatorCue": "Keep the room on one topic at a time when voices overlap.", "risk": "Medium" }, { "id": "timed-debate", "name": "Timed Debate", "bestFor": "High-traffic rooms", "description": "Each speaker gets a visible timer and the queue advances when time runs out.", "moderatorCue": "Set the timer before the topic starts and announce follow-up rules.", "risk": "Low" }, { "id": "steelman-challenge", "name": "Steelman Challenge", "bestFor": "Polarized rooms", "description": "A speaker must describe the strongest version of the opposing view before rebutting.", "moderatorCue": "Ask the other side whether the steelman is fair enough to proceed.", "risk": "Low" }, { "id": "source-check-challenge", "name": "Source-Check Challenge", "bestFor": "Misinformation rooms", "description": "The room pauses claims until the original source is found and ranked.", "moderatorCue": "Trace the source chain before anyone argues about interpretation.", "risk": "Low" }, { "id": "fallacy-bingo", "name": "Fallacy Bingo", "bestFor": "Learning rooms", "description": "Guests identify argument patterns without shaming individual speakers.", "moderatorCue": "Name the fallacy, restate the claim charitably, and continue.", "risk": "Low" } ], "safety": [ { "id": "public-vs-private", "name": "Public Rooms vs Private Rooms", "risk": "Medium", "guidance": "Public rooms need clear labels, simple rules, and faster intervention because guests arrive without shared context.", "hostCue": "Repeat room expectations when the topic changes or a group enters." }, { "id": "vr-harassment", "name": "Why VR Harassment Feels Different", "risk": "High", "guidance": "Voice, embodiment, proximity, and group attention can make harassment feel more immediate than text chat.", "hostCue": "Act earlier than you would in a text-only room." }, { "id": "minors-adult-rooms", "name": "Minors in Adult Rooms", "risk": "High", "guidance": "Adult-topic rooms need explicit labels and immediate de-escalation if a minor enters.", "hostCue": "Stop adult content, ask the user to leave, and use platform safety tools if needed." }, { "id": "blocking-muted-exit", "name": "Blocking, Muting, and Leaving", "risk": "Low", "guidance": "Leaving a bad room is a valid safety move, not a loss in the debate.", "hostCue": "Normalize muting, blocking, and stepping away before conflict peaks." } ] }