Real talk time:

"Just asking questions" is a weapon. We know full-well that some people exploit it to feign innocence when deliberately throwing noise into discussions. And it works in large part because it encourages otherwise earnest discussions which then contribute to the noise.

So be careful.

@TechConnectify This leads to a culture where everyone is afraid to ask basic questions.
@konradmb Only an incredibly bad-faith interpretation of this does.
@TechConnectify I've seen a thread here (I mean on this platform), where a genuine, honest question (I'm convinced it was) has been group-dismissed as "sealioning".

@konradmb And sealioning isn't at all what I'm talking about, here.

Frankly I'm kind of stunned at how many people are interpreting me to mean what you've suggested. I'm not saying nobody should ask questions - I'm saying people need to give a little more thought into whether those questions are even relevant. Because weaponized questions are a thing, and some folks don't realize this or don't believe they could ever unwittingly do this.

@TechConnectify I don't know why, but I got the impression that you are proposing to dismiss those questions without proper response. I'm wrong, right?
@konradmb @TechConnectify Let's take an hypothetical. If someone asks publically, "I wonder if <public figure> beats their spouse? I don't know, I'm just asking questions", the "proper response" is to block them, not respond. Responding amplifies their message, which is what they want. It's the equivalent of a "push poll" ... a bad faith question posed just to make folks think there might be some truth to the allegation, even when the questioner knows there isn't.