The wait’s finally over. Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2025 is “Rage Bait.”
In an official statement, Oxford revealed: “Our language team narrowed it down to three finalists: rage bait, aura farming, and biohack. These words really capture what people have been talking about lately. After three days and over 30,000 votes, the experts landed on rage bait. They weighed the public vote, looked at the mood of the conversations, and dug into their data before making the call.”
What is Rage Bait?
It’s a mash-up of “rage” as in explosive anger and “bait,” like the stuff you use to lure in a fish. Both words go way back in English, but together, they’re something pretty modern. While “clickbait” tries to hook people for attention (and maybe annoy them), rage bait is laser-focused on stirring up anger, arguments, and division.
The term first popped up online in a 2002 Usenet post, describing a driver getting riled up after being flashed by someone trying to pass.
From there, it took off as internet slang, especially for viral tweets and posts that seem designed to rile people up and, honestly, to poke at how platforms and creators decide what gets pushed in our feeds.
Rage bait has a real impact, and not in a good way. For individuals, it messes with your head and your emotions. Constantly seeing stuff meant to make you angry can crank up your stress, anxiety, and even leave you feeling hopeless or burned out.
People get used to this flood of outrage and start tuning out real issues, which chips away at meaningful conversations. Plus, rage bait is flat-out manipulative.
It hijacks your brain’s reward system outrage actually feels good for a second, thanks to dopamine, so you keep scrolling, keep engaging, even when you know it’s bad for you. And all that anger makes it harder to think straight, so people lash out online without stopping to think.
For society and the platforms themselves, it’s a vicious cycle. Social media algorithms love anything that gets a reaction, and nothing gets people going like anger.
That means rage bait gets boosted, drawing in more clicks and ad dollars, even if the content is trash or straight-up unethical. Politicians and bad actors use rage bait to whip up their followers and pit people against each other, sometimes with lies or half-truths that spread like wildfire. This just makes the internet meaner and more divided, feeding harmful stereotypes and turning groups into targets.
The more influencers and news outlets lean on rage bait, the more people start to see them as fake or manipulative. In the end, it eats away at trust and makes it even harder to know what’s real online.
The best way out of the rage bait trap is to simply avoid the content. Unliking will remind the social media algorithm that you are not interested in such kind of content and that will eventually create a healthier feed.
How not to fall for RAGE BAIT
Emotional Regulation Practice: When you are angry or outraged, stop to think before acting. Breathe a sigh of relief or literally move off your machine. Look for the fact that the information is a show meant to control your emotions to engage.
Filter your feed: Use the tools of the platform to filter what you view.
Cull or block those accounts who continuously post inflammatory content.
When rage bait is there, press the I’m not interested or hide buttons.
Post actively with positive, informative or educative content, to re-educate the algorithm to prioritize such content instead.
Do not comment, like or share: This kind of interaction, regardless of whether it is a bad or a good comment, rewards the producer, and guarantees that you and other users will visit another similar content. The best counter-strategy is your non-response.
Limit social media time: Becoming exposed to rage bait in general can be reduced by limiting how much time is spent on social media. Divide time playing with offline activities like workouts, reading a book or going outside.
