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Oxford University Press (OUP) has selected “rage bait” as its word of the year for 2025, highlighting the growing concern around manipulative content on social media. The term, which refers to online material deliberately crafted to provoke anger or outrage, has seen a threefold increase in usage over the past year. This rise points to a widespread recognition of how digital platforms often exploit strong emotions to drive user engagement.
For those unfamiliar with the expression, “rage bait” describes posts or articles designed to irritate, frustrate, or offend viewers to elicit strong emotional reactions. This approach is similar to clickbait, which aims to attract attention and clicks, but rage bait focuses explicitly on triggering anger. Content creators use such tactics to boost traffic to their websites or social media profiles by tapping into users’ emotional responses.
Alongside rage bait, two other terms were finalists: “aura farming” and “biohack.” Aura farming involves the deliberate cultivation of a charismatic or captivating persona to project confidence and mystique. Biohacking, on the other hand, refers to attempts to enhance one’s physical or mental performance and wellbeing through lifestyle changes, diet, supplements, or technology. The ultimate winner, rage bait, was chosen after a public vote that informed OUP’s language experts.
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, emphasized the significance of rage bait’s rise, noting that it signals increased awareness of how online content can manipulate emotions. He explained that while the internet once primarily aimed to capture curiosity for clicks, there has now been a shift toward controlling emotional responses and how people react. This trend reflects broader discussions about human behavior in a technology-driven age and the darker facets of internet culture. Previous words of the year from Oxford include terms like “selfie,” “goblin mode,” and “rizz,” reflecting evolving social and cultural dynamics
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