Is There No Escape From Engagement Baiting?

December 2, 2025 ● AndyP

Brain rot is so 2024. Rage bait is Oxford’s buzzword of the year!

First of all, I’m well aware of “Word of the Year” or “WotY” being a thing but this is actually the first time it got me somewhat interested. I don’t know, maybe because some of the words chosen by different organizations are quite relevant today (I’m not counting the “6-7”, I feel like that’s just some Gen-Z BS along with “rizz” lol). Words like “slop”, “AI-slop”, “vibe-coding”, and “parasocial” made it to some lists. I want to focus, however, on Oxford’s 2025 Word of the Year: “rage bait”.

Reading online, rage bait can be described as content (usually, but not always, found online) that tries to provoke anger or outrage, as a means of gaining attention or making money.

Honestly, this is the first time I learn about it. I do know about the broader term clickbait though.

Engagement baiting online and my seemingly losing battle to avoid it

Now, I’m not really a heavy user of social media. I am however a heavy consumer of Youtube content. Tech news, fitness trends, educational contents, global news, whatever— Youtube is my go-to source most of the time.

It’s not that different from other forms of online platform. Like Facebook or X, Youtube also suffers from clickbait contents. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that since I understand that creators need engagement to succeed. I like to believe that ethical clickbait done right can help creators grow.

For quite some time now though, I’ve noticed that the majority of videos in my feed are some form of clickbait. From the absolutely stupid “Youtube faces” in their thumbnails to outrageous titles. Titles that include phrases like “It has begun!” or “You don’t know what’s coming next!”. Like, what are you talking about?! What just began?! What’s coming next?! MAN! I hate those kinds of shit. Most of the time, I click anyway (except if the thumbnail has the youtube face; That’s an immediate red flag for me.)

I especially hate it when I willingly watch a clickbait video and then there’s no pay-off in the end, only leaving you with the sense of being manipulated. It feels just as awful as being rage-baited.

It also annoys me that some channels I’ve followed for years are now resorting to rage bait as well. Sometimes I’ll still click, hoping to see the topic from a different perspective.

At this point, I honestly have no idea how to avoid rage bait. Maybe the only solution is to go offline and live in a cave.