It’s difficult to tell at times whether someone is willfully straw-manning, or if the general level of reading comprehension has dwindled so much that people aren’t even bothering to read the post, and therefore couldn’t possibly remain on topic.
At any rate, it’s annoying, mildly infuriating, and often almost feels like gaslighting, depending on how wildly incorrect the reply is.
If you don’t know what a straw-man argument is, it’s effectively misrepresenting someone else’s words, and then arguing against the fabrication.
EG:
“I like the color green more than the color yellow”
“What, so you think purple is stupid?”
^ no one said anything about purple, nor was there any way to derive my feelings about said unmentioned color.
Again, could be trolling, could be a lack of reading comprehension, or whatever.
But it is pervasive, and it is no bueno.