I really hate when people just throw out the names of various fallacies. At least in this example they gave a definition, but they are rarely used correctly, and the smug gits who argue like this will never ever give a clear explanation of how the fallacy is supposed to apply.

It seems to me like it’s basically always less confusing and more respectful to just explain in layman’s terms what’s wrong with an argument and/or give an analogous argument with the same problem.

I’m not saying nobody should care about knowing and understanding common fallacies, but in practice they’re always used as blunt force weapons to “win” arguments with by being a fallacy master wielder. The worst offenders are usually the ones that tend to be more about rhetoric than the actual point being made, like “ad hominem”, “poisoning the well” and “appeal to emotion”.

What else can you do when someone calls something whataboutism but respond with some equally trite nonsense

Sweet fucking refried beans I can’t stand anymore. I was on there a little while ago reading a comment thread and the whole conversation just devolved into people calling each other bots. No opinions, no facts, nothing. Just “You’re a bot!” “NO U!” Fuck sake.

So while they just jabber back and forth, we sneak in and wreck up the place