I agree with most of what you've said, though sometimes it is necessary, and even proper, to call a spade a spade.
If there is one interesting side-effect to the rise of the internet, it's that now almost everyone knows what constitutes a "strawman". Even my cat knows, and he rarely uses the internet for anything except pron. Because of that, many of the people using strawman arguments are doing so with full cognizance of their actions.
If you say "I think videogames are nifty" and I respond with "OMG videogames are violent, you want to shoot people dead, you're a murderer," are you going to politely tell me why my argument is inane? Even though we are both likely aware of that from the start? Or will you go to your handy gif arsenal and--
Bam.
Sure, you could go down a path of your opponent's choosing and turn the thread into a mess of off-topic sophistry, but why?
Call it what it is and move on to someone that deserves a valid response.
