Ragebait
Etymology
A blend of "rage" and "bait," modeled directly on the older clickbait. It emerged in 2010s internet culture as platforms learned that hostile engagement travels farther than agreeable engagement. The fishing metaphor is the whole point: the outrage is a hook baited for a predictable bite.
noun · /RAYJ-bayt/
Content engineered to provoke anger specifically because outraged people click, share, and reply more than calm ones do.
What it names
The business model behind a lot of infuriating posts — the anger is not a side effect but the product; useful whenever you catch yourself about to reward a bad take with attention.
Example
That "unpopular opinion" thread wasn’t a real argument, just ragebait dressed up as one.
Related idea
Clickbait lures you to click with curiosity or promise; ragebait specifically weaponizes anger, and the fury it farms is often the entire payload.