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Sealioning Is Bad

·177 words·1 min
Articles feminism racism privilege gamergate
Daniel Andrlik
Author
Daniel Andrlik
Daniel Andrlik lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia. By day he manages product teams. The rest of the time he is a podcast host and producer, writer of speculative fiction, a rabid reader, and a programmer.

Tegiminis does a great job breaking down the issues behind sealioning in this article.

However, it’s easy to ask a question in bad faith using reasoned, good faith practices. Neutral phrasing does not always guarantee a question is asked in good faith. This is extremely obvious in documented sealioning; the target responds, only for the questioner to immediately grill them for more information, misinterpret the answer, or dismiss it entirely.

The purpose of sealioning never to actually learn or become more informed. The purpose is to interrogate. Much like actual interrogators, sealioners bombard the target with question after question, digging and digging until the target either says something stupid or is so pissed off that they react in the extreme.

— Tegiminis, Why Sealioning is Bad

I’ve seen this behavior a lot lately. Mostly it comes from people incapable of seeing beyond their own privilege. Of course, it’s not usually directed at me, as I don’t fit the targeted demographic, what with being a straight white cis male. It still drives me crazy when I encounter it.

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