We on social media love having an opinion on every little burning issue. But maybe, we shouldn’t. Sometimes, it’s more prudent, and responsible, to stay quiet
It seems like everyone is out there with an opinion/tactic that seems misplaced and forced — just so we keep getting the likes, the views and the comments. Representation pic/iStock
Have you heard the word rage-bait? Of course, you have. It was the Oxford word of the year last year and is the manipulative tactic of eliciting outrage with the goal of increasing internet traffic.
I may not be eliciting outrage, but I am feeling outrage every single day on social media. It seems like everyone is out there with an opinion/tactic that seems misplaced and forced — just so we keep getting the likes, the views and the comments. Even as I write this piece and talk about those rage-baiting me, I know I run the risk of the same saying: “Oh, look at her! She is only talking about us because we are important!”
No, I am talking about you because you prove one important fact: Once people cross a line, they can go to extreme heights to get what they want. In this case — likes, followers, traction, virality. It’s like what the protagonist, honest lawyer Rudy Baylor (played by Matt Damon), says in the movie, The Rainmaker: “Every lawyer, at least once in every case, feels himself crossing a line that he doesn’t really mean to cross. It just happens, and if you cross it enough times it disappears forever.”
For many influencers, that line has vanished. For example, for Divija Bhasin, who goes by the moniker, @awkwardgoat3 on Instagram. The therapist, who went viral for her #proudrandi movement, recently put out a video addressing the ongoing 10-minute delivery debate that asked the right-now unnecessary question: Why are women not a part of any of these apps? This could be addressed at a different time, but right now, as gig workers fight for basic rights, Divija, this argument seems a desperate plea for traction. The comment section questions her, but Divija, who seems like she is drunk on self-importance, also seems unable to own up to her mistakes or modify or improve her approach.
There are more: One creator reel I encountered encouraged women to “jump ship” if their partner didn’t tell them to lift weights? I couldn’t help but leave a comment: If we started jumping ship for reasons such as this, how will anything ever last?
Another travel influencer, who has been triggering me ever since she decided to go to Afghanistan, which she herself described as the “most dangerous country in the world” (Arrey, then why go there?), recently went to Nicaragua to board down an active volcano. And now she says, “This could be risky”! OMG! Do you see a pattern here?
Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, said this about rage-bait: “Before, the internet was focused on grabbing our attention by sparking curiosity in exchange for clicks, but now we’ve seen a dramatic shift to it hijacking and influencing our emotions, and how we respond.” Oh, how I miss the content that sparked our curiosity. It does still exist and that’s what I love about social media, but because the algorithm loves chaos, that’s what we see more of.
And here is the point I am trying to make with this column today: Maybe sometimes, we don’t need to outdo the last Reel, or have an opinion on every controversial piece of news, or just say every inane thought that comes into our mind. Sometimes, it must remain in our brains. Maybe if we regulate our content, we can help regulate emotions like anger, despair, and frustration in the online world. Maybe sometimes, it’s our responsibility to not have an opinion, so as to not fuel the craziness.
But who am I to say anything, because maybe today, I rage-baited our hard-working influencers?
See you next week!
Ranting and raving about all that’s trending on social media, Aastha Atray Banan is an author, creator, podcaster, and the Editor of your favourite weekend read, Sunday mid-day. She posts at @aasthaatray on Instagram.
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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