Rage bait

And other dangers of emotionally charged online content

We’ve all succumbed to the lure of the sensationalized headline at least once. The sort that makes you pause and think, “There’s got to be more to this story.”

"You won't believe what this celebrity said about their co-star!"

"Shocking revelation: Study reveals the one food that could be killing you!"

"10 secrets your doctor doesn't want you to know!"

These are the baited hooks of the digital age, known as clickbait. Crafted from a blend of sensational headlines and eye-popping visuals, clickbait is digital candy laced with the irresistible poison of curiosity, designed to hijack our attention. It’s so compelling that our brains reward us with a surge of dopamine, the neurotransmitter pivotal to our reward system, which spikes in anticipation of the content behind the click. Clickbait promises enlightenment and entertainment, yet often strands us on the desolate shores of superficial content, leaving us with nothing but lost time.

“I wasted how much time reading that?!”

Many of us have become savvy to these grab you by the shirt headlines, recognizing them as a tactic to seize our attention by any means necessary, ultimately driving up page views and potentially increasing ad revenue for someone. So we change our behaviors and click less, at least some of us do.

However, as our digital ecosystem evolves, so too do the strategies employed to capture our attention. If we click less on sensationalized headlines, what else can platforms do get our attention? Enter rage bait—the darker, more insidious cousin of clickbait. While clickbait seduces us with the promise of forbidden knowledge or unexpected revelations, rage bait taps into something much more primal: our emotions, particularly anger and outrage. In the current digital landscape, this variant of clickbait has morphed into a tool not just for capturing attention but for amplifying division and driving engagement through polarization.

Are you familiar with the idea of rage bait? I have to admit while experiencing it myself first hand, I did not know much about the term. Rage bait operates under the premise that intense emotional reactions, especially anger, significantly boost engagement and dissemination across digital platforms. It's a strategy that exploits our psychological vulnerabilities, compelling us to react impulsively and spread the content further, often without full comprehension or critical evaluation of the information presented (you know you have forwarded rage bait to someone in your life you just may not have called it this!).

In today's world, some public figures have even built their entire platforms using this tactic: They make outrageous statements that provoke widespread anger, wait for the media to report these statements, and then criticize the media for their coverage. This strategy not only brings more attention to them but also sows seeds of distrust. It's remarkably effective, drawing clicks from people who either support the outrageous statements or are so incensed by them that they feel compelled to read more.

The pervasive proliferation of rage bait across digital media platforms poses significant risks to our mental health and well-being. It’s common sense, right, but I have found that it’s still useful to at least point out how these websites impact us.

Exposure to emotionally charged content engineered to elicit anger or outrage can engender heightened states of arousal and emotional dysregulation, exacerbating stress levels and undermining emotional resilience. Nothing about this works in favor of taking care of our mental health. To make things worse, habitual consumption of rage bait fosters this nasty cycle of negativity and cynicism, which can warp our worldview and lead to a heightened senses of distrust, divisiveness, and social alienation. It’s why we have to be so much more cautious with when our youth are exposed to certain platforms and online content.

It’s why sometimes putting down our devices is a good thing. A recent survey by Pew found that 72 percent of U.S. teens say they often or sometimes feel peaceful when they don’t have their smartphone. Chances are, you might feel the same. With the constant torrent of information, good, bad, and ugly, being constantly connected to information can work against our mental health.

I am a policy guy. I think a lot about systems and the way they are designed. A lot of my energy comes from studying how the pieces fit, what works, and what doesn't work. In this digital age, there's no doubt that many of these tools, whether used for good or bad, are not going back into any box. This means that we have a responsibility if not an obligation to consider the intended and unintended consequences of online content and the platforms that disseminate it.

While daunting, there are some things that we can and should consider. From our individual responsibility to set boundaries on our own screens, to regulations that begin to hold companies accountable, there's a lot to discuss about what we can do, but sadly, I worry that we're running out of time.

The next generation has already assimilated technology and the online world so much into their persona that it's really hard to tease it apart. It's not impossible, but it is something that we have to come to grips with. The harmful effects of rage bait on mental health underscore the imperative of fostering media literacy, cultivating emotional resilience, and promoting conscientious consumption habits to safeguard psychological well-being in the digital age. It also means that we need to be much more aware of the impact this content has on ourselves! Next time you see that headline that seems too wild to be true, chances are it probably is.

As rage bait permeates our digital landscape, its ramifications extend beyond individual mental health concerns to broader societal implications. The deliberate manipulation of our emotions for the sake of engagement not only exacerbates personal stress levels but also fuels societal discord and erodes trust in institutions. By perpetuating a cycle of outrage and cynicism, rage bait contributes to the polarization of communities and undermines the foundations that allow civil discourse. As a result, fostering media literacy and promoting responsible online engagement are not merely individual imperatives but essential steps toward preserving that always fragile fabric of our social cohesion. In an era where digital platforms wield unprecedented influence over public discourse, addressing the influence of online content like rage bait feels pretty important.