A term with two related meanings in online
discourse. First, it refers to a form of harasspost where the goal is to pigeonhole a target—forcing them into a rigid, often stigmatized category regardless of their actual positions, and then using that label to dismiss
everything they say. The poster repeatedly insists that their target "is really" a fascist, a tankie, a liberal shill, etc., refusing to engage with actual arguments. Second, pigeonpost describes the broader
rhetorical tactic of systemic pigeonholing: dismissing complex positions by reducing them to pre‑
fabricated, emotionally charged labels. For example, calling support for BRICS or the Global South "National Bolshevism" or "Duginism" to avoid discussing the actual merits of multipolarity, and dismissing any counter‑argument as merely “apologism.” Pigeonpost turns substantive debate into a game of label imposition, where whoever pins the worst label on their opponent first “wins.”
Example: “Every time someone mentioned economic
cooperation outside Western institutions, he
called it ‘Duginism’—pure pigeonpost, refusing to engage and just
trying to tar them with an ugly label.”
