The term “Rage Bait” was chosen as the word or phrase of the year by Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary. It refers to social media content created with the aim of provoking a strong, negative reaction.
Posting content with the intention of antagonizing people may not seem like a smart strategy for a social media influencer. But those who post content on social media can earn more money if their channel has a high level of engagement, regardless of people’s positive reaction.
Additionally, social media platforms use algorithms that tailor the content we see to what is likely to interest us. This doesn’t necessarily mean content that will make us happy: the algorithm will learn from any engagement we have with the content, including any angry comments we might post in response.
But there are things you can do to control your reaction to this type of content. But first, you need to understand why rage bait is so effective.
Provocative posts can lead to more clicks, shares and comments due to the so-called negativity bias, in which negative emotions, such as anger, spread more quickly and intensely on social media.
Indeed, in terms of evolution, it is more important to pay attention to a situation that caused anger in our group than to a situation that created happiness. Anger suggests that action must be taken to resolve a problem, while happiness suggests that everything is okay.
While social media technologies are relatively new, the way we understand and navigate our world is not. We are hardwired to seek social information, which includes anything that indicates a difference of opinion or possible threat within our social groups.
In the past, the groups we belonged to were usually local to where we lived: our friends, neighbors and colleagues. But the growth of social media now allows us to communicate with people all over the world. This means that there are many more groups we can be a part of and, therefore, avenues through which anger can reach us.
Research has shown that people can quickly align their opinions with those of others on anything that provokes negative emotion, which provides another evolutionary advantage by ensuring safety in numbers against a potential threat. In this case, the person posting the provocative content takes on the role of the pantomime villain, against whom the audience unites to boo.
The other problem is that we can post content or comments and get an immediate response, 24 hours a day, non-stop. Normally, we used to take a few breaks between facing something or someone that made us angry. It gave us a chance to calm down and think about what happened, but with the omnipresence of social media, we can feel like we have no way to escape the anger.
Dealing with “rage bait”
A good way to start is to be aware of the motivations behind these posts. Of course, there are people who post negative content and sincerely believe in what they post. But knowing that many of these posts are written purely to generate engagement helps us reclaim our power over these interactions.
A 2020 study showed that making people understand the manipulative strategies used in the media allowed them to resist these techniques.
Think of the person posting content as an actor playing a character whose actions are motivated more by a desire for fame, whether good or bad, than by personal beliefs.
The more we avoid engaging in any content that arouses anger in us, the less it will be presented to us. Unlike traditional media like television, we don’t need to be a passive audience on social media. Instead, we can influence and shape social media through what we choose to engage or not engage in.
Hope instead of anger
Despite how quickly and forcefully anger can spread on social media through “anger baiting,” new research suggests that people may need to think about media content designed to provoke anger before reacting. This may dilute the influence of bait.
One of the advantages of social media over offline interactions is that it is, by nature, publicly visible. This means researchers can more easily understand what’s happening on these platforms, including how “raige bait” is used to drive engagement.
It can also help us better understand how to help people control the social media content they are exposed to, so that we can benefit from the positive aspects of these technologies without being drawn to the negative content posted solely for profit.
This text was published in The Conversation. Click here to read the original version
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