Rage bait is a post, video or headline made on purpose to make people angry. The idea is simple: angry comments and shares tell social media algorithms that the post is interesting, so it gets shown to even more people. People use the term online and in conversation, usually as a warning: don't reply, it's a provocation.
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be rage bait; pure rage bait; rage-bait + people; fall for rage bait; don't take the bait
- That video saying all teachers are lazy is pure rage bait, don't comment on it.
- He posts strange food opinions every day just to rage-bait his followers.
- I fell for rage bait again and spent an hour arguing with a stranger.
What changed
First versionThe headline promised a secret diet trick, but the article was empty, total rage bait.
RevisionThe headline promised a secret diet trick, but the article was empty, total clickbait.
Both words are about bait, hence the confusion. But here the headline lured readers with a promise and delivered nothing, without trying to make anyone angry: that's clickbait. Rage bait hooks people with anger; the author deliberately winds them up.
The verb bait on its own also means to deliberately annoy or provoke someone, and don't take the bait means “don't fall for it”: Ignore his comment, don't take the bait. Rage bait is an informal social media word. In an essay, write content designed to provoke anger; in IELTS Speaking, provocative posts works well.
Your turn
He posted a photo of pineapple pizza with the caption 'better than anything in Italy', just to start a fight in the comments. Classic ___.
Show the answer
rage bait — The author's goal is to start a fight in the comments, that is, to make people angry: that's rage bait. Clickbait lures you with a promise in the headline to get a click, and here nothing is promised.
Write to a friend that it's not worth replying to a provocative post. Use rage bait and say what the post was about.
Don't reply to that post saying students who use phones in class are lazy, it's just rage bait.
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