How Rage-Baiting Can Spread Fake Information

Rage-baiting can go hand in hand with fake news. Aside from the emotional and mental effects it possesses, it can also cause confusion and misinformation. But how can such content hook and feed you with wrong information?

Before rage-baiting, sensationalism already existed and started as a form of gossip and dramatized oral history (Sloan et al., 2002, as cited in Frye, 2005). Imagine a chismosa (gossiper) in your barangay. She hears a neighbor dropping a plate, and as the story spreads, a simple accident turns into a family falling apart. That is how rage-baiting misleads people.

A rage-bait content often has triggering words, exaggerated tone, and provocative gestures. Once the audience gets baited by such content, it tends to elevate emotions, causing a minimization of critical thinking. Content creators use this technique to hook people at the expense of integrity. Aside from gaining high social media engagements, it can be a tool for such content creators’ financial gain and, moreover, a way to spread hate propaganda to certain public figures.

Even so, not every opinionated article is driven by negative machinations. Media formats like tabloids, talk shows, and opinion columns often use this practice. At first, it might seem contradictory—but it’s not. These platforms usually include disclaimers stating that the content reflects the personal opinions of the creator. To put it simply, when looking for information online, make sure the content is presented as opinion or, at the very least, includes a disclaimer to avoid confusion.

We know how scrolling through social media brings convenience to us, and going back to traditional ways like watching television or reading through a newspaper could be such a setback, so how do we classify information online as factual in this digital age? — Simple, we look for information through reliable sources. Traditional news media outlets that we’ve used to watch on television or read have already adapted to social media. Sharing factual information and being reliable has been their goal ever since. Stop feeding your mind with information from sketchy sources and follow the social media pages of reliable news outlets we used to see on our televisions; they are established for a reason, right?