OUP word of year

London: Rage bait, or online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage, was on Monday named the word of the year by Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The Oxford University Press (OUP) said the term is a noun which describes online content that is designed to be frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account. It found that the word has increased threefold in usage in the last 12 months, based on its language monitoring data.

“The fact that the word rage bait exists and has seen such a dramatic surge in usage means we're increasingly aware of the manipulation tactics we can be drawn into online,” said Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages at OUP.

“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.