What is the difference between a red herring fallacy and a straw man fallacy?

The straw man fallacy can be considered a subcategory of red herring fallacy.

  • Red herring fallacies are also known as fallacies of relevance; they divert attention from the main topic of debate.
  • Straw man fallacies focus on a specific type of irrelevant information: a simplistic or distorted version of the opposing argument.