The Art of Rage Baiting
Graphics by Caroline Connerton
Picture this: You’re scrolling through your ‘For You Page,’ casually thumbing through video after video of a carefully curated selection of entertainment, when you see it:
“[Your favorite singer] is totally overrated. If you disagree, you’re wrong.”
Mouth quirked and eyes narrowed, you jump to the comment section, and find similarly angry viewers practically writing essays over how this “hot take” is insane and incorrect. With each creator-response, your anger bubbles. Maybe you comment something yourself, or maybe you send the video to the first five people that come to mind, hoping to garner a similar reaction, but the anger flows.
This, my dear readers, is rage-baiting, and whether you realize it or not, we are addicted to it.
If you are unfamiliar (and my wonderful, perfect scenario didn’t clear it up), rage-baiting is the online equivalent of hovering your finger near someone’s face and proclaiming “I’m not touching you!” It rears its ugly head in the form of any online presence: a tweet, a video, or a comment. No matter who you are, I can guarantee you’ve fallen victim to rage-baiting, even if you didn’t realize it.
Rage-baiting banks on a response, which translates into more views and comments, which, you guessed it, means more money. It’s a fool-proof way to skyrocket numbers. Here are some of my recent encounters with rage-baiting:
A creator explaining a recipe pronounces ‘parmesan’ in a way only the most evil of people could conjure up.
A man with a microphone and a platform explaining why women should stay in the kitchen.
An elder criticizing the younger generation’s work ethic, while describing a situation where they were clearly the villain.
Does any of this sound familiar? These attempts at rage-baiting make you want to comment “please get it together and Google how to say this correctly,” “you are what’s wrong with society,” and “you raised the younger generation! This is on you!”
This is the kicker though, you’re not supposed to agree. You’re supposed to lose your mind.
If you’re curious, this is why rage-baiting works:
Anger increases adrenaline, and adrenaline makes us antsy. Our heart rates spike, and fight-or-flight kicks in. Suddenly, you’re no longer relaxing before bed. You’re on fuel-driven conquest to defend your favorite artist.
A few liked comments, a couple rewatches to make sure you really heard that right, and some links sent to friends, all help the rage-baiter go viral, and congratulations, you’ve given them what they wanted all along.
I’m not bringing rage-baiting to your attention to upset you (the irony), and in a way, I’m not even criticizing those who do it. Objectively, it’s genius. If we have anything in common, it’s rage. It’s an easy emotion to flare up, and in a world where every interaction with content brings money, it’s common.
I am offering this analysis for those who are sick of constantly fighting the feeling of total outrage over a stranger’s opinion on the internet. I've created a list of the most common formulas for rage-bait, so hopefully, you may be able to identify who has a crazy opinion and who is hoping for a comment:
Fake specialist + bad advice
“Fruit is bad for you. Trust me” (It’s not, I promise)
Disinformation
[Insert politician] actually said they hate this country (No they didn’t; please take a second to fact-check)
The unpopular opinion
“Bohemian Rhapsody" is the worst song ever made (These are fighting words)
The false cause and effect
Poor people are poor because they have useless hobbies that don’t make them money. (Dude, you’re the one whose hobby is harassing people on the internet. Get a grip.)
There are more, obviously. I’m willing to guess there are an infinite amount of ways to upset someone, but these are the ones I come across frequently. After you’ve recognized the rage-bait, calming down is as simple as taking a breath and recognizing that you do not want this person to profit off of this, and keep scrolling.
I believe rage-baiting is here to stay, and there’s not much we can do about it. But, the next time you see someone posting that insane, incorrect, and uneducated opinion that makes you grind your teeth together, just remember, that sometimes the most efficient response is no response at all.