Do you ever start scrolling social media only to find yourself completely outraged just moments later?
It's likely you've encountered "rage bait", content designed to elicit a strong emotional reaction to drive engagement or spread ideas.
The more we engage with it, the more we reward the influencers, brands, media outlets and politicians creating it.
It can also leave us with a sense of cognitive dissonance and even lead to burnout, says Sara Quinn, a clinical psychologist and president of the Australian Psychological Society.
If you want to see less rage bait, or just getting better at scrolling on by, keep reading.
Examples of rage bait and why people create it
Rage bait can range from the banal to the extreme, says Simon Copland, an honorary fellow with the Australian National University who specialises in research into online extremism.
"A classic bit of rage bait I see quite frequently come out of the US is really bad recipes, really disgusting recipes," he says.
More dangerous examples of rage bait can be misinformation and disinformation, and racist, sexist and homophobic material.
Motivations to create rage bait will vary, Dr Copland says, but often fall into two categories: monetary gain and shaping beliefs.
"How do people make money off social media? Through people engaging with their content," he says.
Every click, watch, like, comment, save or share contributes to boosting that post.
"Attention is the primary currency of social media," says Teodor Mitew, senior lecturer in digital media at the University of Sydney.
And he explains it's not only the creators that benefit from rage bait, but also the platforms, which share these posts more widely.
"The algorithm's goal, and this is universal across all these platforms, is to keep you engaged on the platform for as long as possible," Dr Mitew says.
"Why? So that it can show you ads and make money.
"So you have this kind of vicious cycle emerging."
Dr Copland says political posts that incite anger are examples of content that aim to influence the beliefs of viewers.
"It can be often stuff that is based in lies, but can create a political change in somebody.
"It changes people's perceptions."
How rage bait leads to burnout
There are a range of emotions we might experience when viewing rage bait, explains Dr Quinn.
"Anger is one when people encounter provocative or misleading information on an issue they really care about," she says, citing social issues and political discourse and examples.
"Particularly when it feels like it's unjust or divisive."
Disgust might arise, Dr Quinn says, especially for content that includes "cruelty or discrimination".
We might feel frustrated, drained, and a sense of hopelessness, she says.
And there can be long-term impacts when we are repeatedly exposed to provocative content, such as depression and anxiety.
"There might be a sense of alienation or loneliness, feeling disconnected from others or isolated in your own values.
"There is also confusion and what we call cognitive dissonance — feeling conflicted or unsure of how to respond when the content challenges your beliefs."
Burnout and general exhaustion are also risks, Dr Quinn says.
It's an easy path to be led down, Dr Mitew says, because viewing and engaging with rage bait can be addictive.
He says short bursts of content offer quick dopamine hits, leaving us in a "permanently elevated state".
"There's a very short feedback loop where [people] look at something, they get the immediate information and pay-off by having seen that something.
"And then they scroll to the next thing, and you have the same."
When anger is justified
It's worth noting that sometimes an anger response is healthy and even helpful, says Dr Copland — and not everything that makes us angry online is rage bait.
"A lot of stuff going on in the world is making people angry, for good reason, and there's content there that you should be engaging with, or we want to engage with.
"So if you're looking at wars that are happening, whether in Ukraine or in Gaza, for example, I think that rightfully makes lots of people angry."
Think before you click
Remembering rage bait is a "performance" can help us disengage, says Dr Copland.
Before engaging with a post, he suggests taking a moment to ask yourself if it looks like it's designed to make you feel angry.
"Maybe you'll come back and you will still want to engage with it … but taking that step back can be really helpful."
He says not engaging with rage bait will mean that type of content appears less in your feed over time.
"In my feeds I get the kind of happy stupid videos because that's what I engage with."
Dr Quinn suggests checking the credibility of where the information is coming from.
"Is this a creator that regular shares this type of outrageous and shocking content?"
Getting in touch with how we feel while consuming the content — listening to our gut — will help guide us, she says.
If content you are regularly seeing content from someone that is making your feel bad, maybe it's time to unfollow or block.
Dr Quinn also suggests cutting down your social media use and engaging with other sources of media.
A long movie or novel might be a good place to start, according to Dr Mitew.
He says the emotional roller-coaster of bite-sized content consumption on social media needs to be broken up by engaging with longer forms of content.
"Watching long-form movies, if nothing else. Reading long-form text. Listening to long-form music."
He says it's not always easy having to focus your attention for long periods of time without an immediate pay-off, but just like how "exercise doesn't feel good at the start", consuming longer-form content is good for us.
"[People should] enrich their diet with other forms of media, which are not limited to this logic of attention equals money."
