We're being spammed

[ReluctantCamper]

Have seen two totally irrelevant threads on the board. Both regarding babies. I wonder if someone is trying to remind us of our proper function. The only purpose I can think of is to drive 'proper ' threads down the board. I have reported the threads suggesting that they are moved to chat but not commented as I don't want to bump them. Suggest this might be a good way to deal if we get lots of these.

[OvaHere]

I thought the same. An attempt to distract with pointless threads.

[HairyBallTheorem]

Trolls with the most crazy names, too - "sexymomma12345". We've also got a crop of new sealions I notice.

The sealion cartoon

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a concerted campaign to try to dilute and hamper discussion to the point where it becomes impossible, given that we are getting a reputation in the wider press as "the one place where you can discuss the downsides of extreme transactivism without being shut down." Plopping on threads screaming "you're a transphobe" hasn't worked, because we're not doing our womaning properly and keeping quiet when men tell us off. So now they're going with what I was told on a media training course was the "stuck record technique": "I am the calm voice of reason, there are other sides to this argument, you are not being kind and listening to the experiences of transwomen telling you they are women, no I can't tell you what transwomen are women means, but that is just you being unkind again.." and rinse and repeat. But they stick around with their stuck record so they can't be accused of plopping, even though they don't actually debate, they simply assert.

[borntobequiet]

Happens on the Brexit threads sporadically.

[CertainHalfDesertedStreets]

Oh that's what sea lioning is supposed to do. I have been wondering.

Surely it's not effective? It's just so bloody annoying...

[LangCleg]

Yes, I think we all need to be aware of sealions and together on making sure sealion threads are ignored and rapidly drop from view.

[noraclavicle]

The sealions have started a clapping thread on Feminist Chat now, appropriately enough

[OvaHere]

The current trans & sport thread is a massive example of sealioning.

[AngryAttackKittens]

Babies and nursery rhymes. Not doing a good job of hiding what they think women are all about, are they?

[titchy]

So how does sealioning work then? Do they think we are limited to responding to only one thread a day or somethign? Weirdly enough I can comment on one thread, AND then on another one.

[HairyBallTheorem]

Ova it was the trans and sport thread which made me realise what was going on - brand new poster, at that point had only posted on that thread, at their own admission has no interest whatsoever in sport, pops up to post over and over again "you should all be inclusive, sport is about being the best and taking advantage of natural biological differences anyway, look I just googled these testosterone limits which I don't understand but that shows it's all okay, hang on while I appropriate intersex for a moment, back to you should all be inclusive."

They now have a second sealion who's started the "trans people are nice really, what do you have to lose?" thread. (Answer, yes, we all know and have been saying all along that most of the trans people we know are indeed nice people - and we wish them to have full human rights. It is transactivists who want to appropriate women's rights that we have a problem with). Not surprisingly sealion number one is barking away on that second thread too.

I think how they're hoping sealioning will work is that they can just dilute and drown out the gender critical arguments in a chorus of barking, so that no-one will be bothered to read the threads any more.

[AngryAttackKittens]

So let's not comment on those threads. If just the most prolific commenters don't they'll drop off soon.

[HairyBallTheorem]

Angry I started the sport thread because I thought it was an interesting issue - though 250 odd posts later, the arguments have probably been made, the sealion is still sea-lioning, so you're probably right, time to let it drop down the list.

However, I think some response is important. I think the important thing to remember is to question and explain - "You haven't told me what you mean by woman in 'women's sport'", "reducing testosterone a bit doesn't level the playing field because...", "your study which you cite as a counter argument doesn't work because (small sample size)/(self-selected sample)/(lousy stats)/(no true Scotsman fallacy)."

Keep our eye on the ball - they want to close down debate, we want to keep it open.

[noraclavicle]

“So let's not comment on those threads. If just the most prolific commenters don't they'll drop off soon”

Exactly - just ask for them to be moved to Chat and leave it at that.

[AngryAttackKittens]

Yeah the sports thread should have been fine, but then the tedious wanker showed up and started wanking.

I'm thinking I should take my own advice and stop engaging with Rat too, since she's our most prolific sea lion.

[OvaHere]

I think most people lurking on forums only really take notice of what appears on the first page. It works the same way on another totally unrelated forum I'm part of.

The idea is to fill the first page with as much nonsense as possible to distract from far better threads that fall out of view due to people responding and bumping the goady threads.

Lack of response is the best action IMO but impossible to enforce so the second best option is if people are at least responding with clear arguments for the benefit of anyone reading.

[carrierwaveonly]

You can call people names all you like. The fact remains, no one, but no one has come up with any arguements apart from "i just don't like trans people".

When you are on the same side as trump and the daily mail shouldn't alarm bells be ringing somewhere?

[AngryAttackKittens]

A wild sealion appears! Does anyone have a ball handy?

[AngryAttackKittens]

[OvaHere]

I have a

[TallulahWaitingInTheRain]

Agreed, the sealioning is getting out of control. Watch out for individuals who initially agree with what's being said but then start to raise amorphous doubts which need post after post of clarification.

People with genuine questions / doubts tend to come on and ask direct questions from the outset.

[AssignedPuuurfectAtBirth]

"stop engaging with Rat too, since she's our most prolific sea lion"

I didn't know the name for this, but yes, that exactly what she is

[RatRolyPoly]

Alright carrier, looks like I'm not the only butt of the sealioning "joke" round here; makes me feel slightly better.

It's mad, when I first started chatting here everyone was all "god, I hate all these ploppers just dropping in with their statements and never sticking around to explain their point of view", so a couple of posters brave the abuse tone to engage in just such discussion, and god damn them, they're sealioning!

"I hate the ploppers, it's terrible when they never come back. The only thing worse is when they do."

Strikes me the posters who genuinely want to discuss the issues and hear the different viewpoints don't realise they're not the bosses here. A very many more seem to only want a platform for their inflexible ideologies. And that's not a healthy thing.

[AngryAttackKittens]

[AngryAttackKittens]

It's hilarious, it's like a bat signal. But, you know, without the cape and the butler.

[BarrackerBarmer]

Rat, I wouldn't put you in the same category as carrier (yet), but you could change my mind.
Read carrier's post up above and if you still think you share common ground you may save us all a lot of time.