Rage Farming
Eliciting outrage to increase engagement
Example
Don't respond to any more of his rage farming. He makes more money off people like you when you respond
Wow. That's messed up
Yup. That's social media
Related Slang
Rage bait | Online content meant to provoke rage |
Clickbait | Web content created to attract visitors |
Trolling | Posting offensive comments |
Troll | A person who posts offensive comments |
Griefing | Irritating other players |
Tikbait | Shallow TikTok content created to get views |
Baited | Tricked by misleading information |
Thirst trap | A provocative action, message, video, or photo |
Trolol | Laughing at troll |
Influencer | A social media user who affects others' behaviors |
Rage farming is when people post online content meant to rile others up to increase clicks, traffic, revenue, etc. It is similar to clickbait but focuses on instigating outrage to amplify an idea or opinion.
Trolls, influencers, businesses, and bots may all rage-farm online, especially on social media. For example, a Twitter user may post an inflammatory tweet that opponents will quote tweet, which amplifies their reach to more users. Also, many social sites' algorithms reward users who generate interaction (good or bad), further benefitting the original poster.
Political bloggers also rage-farm to get their supporters and opponents to share and comment on their content, which may include written articles, podcasts, and videos. For example, instead of posting something they know their supporters agree with, they post something that will infuriate their opponents enough to get them to visit, comment, share, etc., along with their supporters.
Origin of rage farming
It is unclear who first coined the slang term "rage farming," but it dates back to at least January 2022 when John Scott-Railton, a researcher at Citizen Lab, tweeted about it on January 7th. The term comes from strategically planting a rage-inducing "seed" that yields more "crop" thanks to the outraged parties.