Following in the footsteps of the Cambridge University Dictionary's word of the year, 'parasocial' (see ARE YOU PARASOCIAL?), Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has just announced its word of the year.
The word is 'rage bait', which according to Oxford University Press, is "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger our outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media content".
'Rage bait' beat two other contenders for the crown, 'aura farming' and 'biohack'. Aura farming involves behaving or presenting an image of oneself in "a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness or mystique." And biohack is "an attempt to improve or optimize one's physical or mental performance, health or longevity, or wellbeing by altering one's diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle", or by using other means such as drugs, supplements, or technological devices."
Previous winners of Oxford University Press' word of the year include 'podcast' (in 2005), 'emoji' (2015), 'goblin mode' to describe people resisting returning to normal life after covid (2022), 'rizz' to mean attractiveness, charm or style (2023) and 'brain rot' to describe the mental exhaustion of constant online scrolling (2024).
The President of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl, observed: "Where last year's choice, brain rot, captured the mental drain of endless scrolling, rage bait shines a light on the content purposefully engineered to spark outrage and drive clicks. And together, they form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted. These words don't just define trends; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping our thinking and behaviour."
Have you ever engaged in rage bait and/or suffered from brain rot?
I've never engaged in rage bait though I have been the recipient of rage bait from a few MAGA trolls on this site. One well known troll, though banned from the site, announced his farewell again by changing his profile on the Community side to read: "My work is done spunkycumfart and his homoerotic minions are upset. Mission accomplished". I don't get it, I don't fart! I soon blocked him after reading his very anti-liberal and offensive diatribes.
In my offline past, I have often been deliberately provocative, though never abusive, to get a reaction from students or to at least keep them awake in class. Rage bait has its offline equivalents. Radio shock jocks, plus their newspaper and television equivalents, peddled rage bait. Contrarians, polemicists and demagogues often use rage bait as a tactic to get attention.
I've not experienced brain rot. It helps that I don't own a smartphone; there's very little to scroll on a dumbphone!
PS. Not to be outdone by the Cambridge University Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, the Collins English Dictionary recently announced that its word of the year is vibe coding which is the practice of making an app or a website by getting artificial intelligence (AI) to do it rather than by manually programming code.
PPS. It's a bit strange that often dictionaries' words of the year ares two words Also the Oxford English Dictionary should hold its head in shame by spelling optimise with a 'z' and not an 's'; it's the official guardian of the English language!
12
18 comments
You should only use treble hooks if you intend to kill, otherwise, it should be barbless single hooks. And that holds true in fishing and in phishing!
There's one particular aura farmer in the community, with several profiles, who is a total twat, yet seems still to be able to retain a harem of adoring followers, even though they're aware of his behaviours. It's a bit like the cult of trump!
I wonder who that aura farmer is!
As boring as it may be, I do have a life and have better things to do than mindlessly scroll online all day long. However, my commute time is pretty dedicated to being online. The Best of Rdt Updates are entertaining af.
I used to read a newspaper on my commute to work.
Interestingly, a lot of the accounts that purport to be faithful MAGA and disseminate a lot of rage bait, are actually based in places like Nigeria and eastern Europe.
I'm pretty sure I have brain rot because I enjoy watching videos of a border collie watching TV and getting excited during the exciting parts.
I wonder whether Nigerians and Eastern Europeans under MAGA cover are the trolls here.
That's not brain rot, watching vids of dogs doing cute stuff is food for the soul.
Thank you for the PPS ... I was ready to take umbrage at the two-word Word of the Year.
I don't elicit rage nor do I provoke it. Because I don't suffer from brain rot, I know not to poke a wasp's nest.
You certainly don't strike me as someone who engages from rage bait and suffers from brain rot.
Some people are so rude and I am glad that person is now gone from the site, I am so sorry that happened to you my friend.
Here we call it ROAD RAGE, and not so much do I contribute to that, but I do call names like idiot learn how to drive. And the one thing that really gets to me as it did my grand father is people who wait until they are turning to turn on their turn signals. That shit really gets me riled up because I turn on my turn signal at least more than 100 feet before I do that's just how it's supposed to be. My hubby laughs at me when I say shit while I am driving about other drivers, I guess I amuse him..lol
Thanks for sharing these terms with us today, and I hope your Tuesday continues to be a terrific one..
That troll will come back. He keeps reinventing himself with a different username. He's under surveillance by the site and many members here.
I don't engage in rage bait but I do sometimes speak my mind and say what I believe which to some may look like rage bait.
I'm not sure speaking one's mind constitutes rage bait, but I guess it's down to intentions.
It is difficult to live in North America and not suffer from brain rot. The sheer volume of media of all types causes one to want to hide under the covers and hope the nightmare will soon go away. I have encountered rage bait quite a bit. The worst is when you get it unexpectedly, in person, from someone you didn't expect to think that way. It tends to make you paranoid and very selective of who you consider family and friends.
I only encounter rage from the many trolls on this site.
No brain rot yet, but then i do not scroll . Never created any rage bait, but got a few to some posts, My response is a laugh icon
.
Most of those who use rage bait on me probably wouldn't understand what an emoji is!
Rage baited no. Have others sent their rage my way. Yes. Usually just block them . Rot may have noticed some mental decline recently
MAGA trolls without rage bait, a contradiction in terms!
@spunkycumfun true they are generally full of rage
@bignicktx That's why they're so funny in an idiotic way!
@spunkycumfun their influence in area where live so deep and profound that ceases to be funny. They love their hate and cruelty is just a part of them
I have my brain busy with other" things" so no, no brain rot here... besides I "hate" the so-called social networks
perhaps my case is "brain sex"?
I'd like to suffer from brain sex!
Haa, I too have been confused that of late that the "word" of the year has been two words. Perhaps the selectors have brain rot!
I did however see the latest one written as "rage-bait" perhaps in an attempt to bring it into compliance.
A hyphen is very useful in turning two words into one word. Perhaps I should use hyphens more to male my blog posts less wordy!
Oh hell, how did you get my picture at the computer?
You gave it me!