The anatomy of anger on social media Rage bait is the word of the year, confirming that outrage is the new engine of engagement

There was a time when the internet promised connection, dialogue, even empathy. Today, it seems to work best when it makes us angry. This is the context in which rage bait comes into play, a term that Oxford University Press crowned as the word of the year for 2025 (following 2024’s brain rot, a clear signal of the direction the digital ecosystem is taking). Rage bait, literally “baiting anger”, refers to content deliberately designed to provoke outrage, anger, and visceral reactions. Not to inform or spark debate, but to generate engagement. Full stop.

Rage bait and clickbait: the web’s hooks

Rage bait isn’t simply the new clickbait. While clickbait plays on curiosity - “You’ll never believe who just broke up” - rage bait targets a far more powerful and contagious emotion: indignation. It’s a subtle strategy, because it doesn’t just require passive attention, but an immediate reaction. After all, commenting to disagree is still commenting. And every comment feeds the algorithm, regardless. The reason this works is twofold. On one hand, there’s psychology: anger is a primary emotion, fast and hard to ignore. On the other, there are algorithms, which don’t distinguish between positive and negative engagement. As mentioned, if you comment to criticize, you’re still participating, and therefore amplifying the content. This topic is so current and pervasive that it’s also explored, among other things, in Rifiuto, a novel by Tony Tulathimutte published in Italy by edizioni e/o.

The monetization of anger

And this is where rage bait becomes unsettling. It’s not just a technique, but a true attention economy built on conflict. Anger is encouraged, normalized, and monetized. Arguing - or rather, provoking - becomes entertainment; being outraged becomes a form of participation. In this landscape, the line between conscious provocation and manipulation grows ever thinner. Some creators use rage bait strategically, almost performatively, fully aware of the mechanism. Others are subjected to it, becoming targets of waves of hate sparked by content taken out of context. In both cases, the outcome is the same: a public conversation that is increasingly polarized, less nuanced, more reactive than reflective.

Different degrees of rage bait: from absurd play to a tool of power

Clearly, there are different levels of provocation. The first is a soft, almost surreal kind that plays more on absurdity than direct confrontation. A striking example is Chiara Facchetti, who has over 800,000 followers on TikTok: buying iPhones for her cats or making her husband drive for four hours just to eat a pain au chocolat isn’t aggressive provocation, but it’s so over the top that it triggers indignant and incredulous comments. It’s a gentle form of rage bait. Not truly divisive, but capable of sparking an emotional reaction rooted in “wait, is this for real?”. Even here, though, the mechanism is the same: the content works because it seems unreasonable, and therefore irresistible to comment on. Then there’s identity-based rage bait, built around a persona. The content creator Rockandfiocc is an emblematic example. More or less consciously, she has created a public figure that lives on a knife’s edge: despite repeated slip-ups and shitstorms, she has never stopped saying what she thinks, or what she tells us she thinks, because that’s the real point, continuing to secure a place of honor in online conversations. In this case, rage bait is almost performative: those who follow her know what to expect, and those who dislike her still contribute to her visibility.

At a much more extreme level, we find a form of rage bait that could be defined as systemic. Donald Trump is perhaps its most prominent representative. First on Twitter (from which he was repeatedly censored), and today on his own platform Truth, Trump uses rage bait as a central communication strategy. His statements are often so extreme that they seem fake, and yet (sigh), they’re real. The point isn’t their truthfulness, but the impact they are meant to have. In doing so, Trump doesn’t follow the flow, he creates it. He raises the stakes so high that media, users, and opponents are forced to react. This is rage bait at its highest level, where anger is no longer a side effect but a tool of power.

The antidote to anger

So the question isn’t just why rage bait works, but what it costs us. In terms of mental well-being, the quality of conversation, and critical thinking. Why consume content that doesn’t enrich us, but instead stirs negative emotions? Why take part in a discussion that was never meant to be constructive? In these cases, there is an antidote to anger: ignore it and move on. The algorithm will eventually get the message. Save your outrage for when it truly matters. In real life, we still need it.