I never really understood this. What’s the difference between sealioning and calling someone out for saying stupid shit? I feel like “sealioning” only exists as a term people can use to reframe a situation from “I talked shit and can’t/won’t back it up yet won’t admit it” to “you’re aggressing against me by expecting me to stand behind or explain my words”. Am I just a big dunderhead?

Edit: oh ok, I RTFA lol, makes a lot more sense. I guess the original comic is just not a great example of it in my opinion, but that makes sense since it’s just a silly comic

I think people are too terminally online and use these phrases to justify being an ass to someone not in the know. In reddit it was always a mod getting pissed at someone having a different opinion (and no I’m not talking about being racist as a different opinion) or asking questions because they don’t know about the subject. They cry sealion and ban the person. Other people say I don’t think they were a sealion, and get banned too. Really it seems more like a, “I disagree and have nothing more to say and now will ban you.”

I think it’s fine to ask questions, and point out if there is a flaw in someone’s logic. If someone wants to stop talking then that’s fine and should be respected. But this comic makes it seem like the lady is racist for no reason and the sea lion is fine until the last 3 panels when the sea lion doesn’t leave after being told to go away.

I’ve heard this term before from a power mod and I’m surprised that this comes from a webcomic that doesn’t even fit any time I’ve seen someone cry sealion. When I read the Wikipedia page it describes something else than the comic which I can agree more with, the author is quoted as saying, “The core of what I set out to criticize is just the notion that any random patient stranger should feel entitled to as much of someone’s attention as they want.” Idk the rest of the Wikipedia page talks more of mind reading, you can’t tell what someone means online since there is no tone and you don’t know the other person well enough. If they are just doing the first 3 panels then it is fine. The last time I saw a “sealion” happen was when mods of a sub announced a new unpopular rule that they knew people would leave the sub because of and anyone who disagreed were called a sealion and banned.

Sorry for ranting about this, I just now was reminded of why I hate this term that is usually misused because of your comment. Feel free to ignore me, I don’t think I deserve some random person’s undivided attention, plus arguments/debates stress me out anyway.